The Trials of a Marching Band
by ferriswheel
Summary: The new mission is going undercover in a high school marching band. Can Kurama stand putting his hair up in a band hat? Will Hiei be able to pass off as a teenage human? Will Yusuke even go to the classes? And can Kuwabara play anything? high rating
1. A New Mission

FW: Yup, I'm back!

Botan: Aren't you supposed to be off on lent?

FW: Yeah… about that… I misread the calendar, and it starts TOMORROW, not last week!

Hiei: How do you misread a calendar?

FW: Still figuring that out. And because I decided not to give up fanfiction (again) for lent, I'M NOT! WOO HOO! (Confetti falling from the roof)

Yusuke: …So much for our 40-day break.

FW: I just got back from band, so that's where I got the… uh…

Kurama: Inspiration?

FW: Yeah, let's go with that!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

Summary: The gang's new mission is going undercover in a high school marching band. Can Kurama stand putting his hair up in a band hat? Will Hiei be able to pass off as a teenage human? Will Yusuke even go to the classes? And can Kuwabara play anything?

Side note: This is the first time I've tried writing in this style. Here goes nothing…. START 

Yusuke yawned, glaring at the overly colorful posters decorating the bright green walls. It was, in his opinion, way to early to be awake, and it was always to early to be in school. Yes, the great Yusuke Urameshi was in school. And it wasn't even because of Keiko's nagging. He was on another stupid mission for the toddler. Glaring more heatedly at the cheerful posters, he remembered what had doomed him to this situation.

FLASHBACK

"This is a… different kind of mission," Koenma informed them. He was in his younger form, making the four spirit detectives and ferry girl before him tower above, not usually something you'd want if you were giving important news….

"Get on with it already. I have better ways to waste my time," Yusuke said, angry at having been dragged in on a Saturday morning.

Koenma rolled his eyes, catching the fighter's stupidity once again. "I'm sure you do, but this is important!" He added, not really saying anything.

"Koenma, can you please just tell us the mission?" Kurama wasn't in the mood for watching his friends argue all day. Actually, he wanted nothing more than to just go home and spend time with his mother.

"Fine. You are all going undercover."

"That's it? No problem there. Wait, all of us? You mean Botan too? But she's a girl!" Botan glared at the speaker, Kuwabara.

"I'll have you know I am very experienced with my oar combat!" She yelled. Yusuke nodded, agreeing. He was having strange images in his head of her repeatedly whacking him with her favorite weapon.

The fox sighed. He'd hoped to avoid a headache, but that obviously wasn't going to happen….

"No no no no!" Koenma yelled, banging his little fists on the desk. "This isn't an ordinary mission! You are all, yes even Botan," he added, noticing Kuwabara's mouth opening, "going to be needed." He pointed to his giant TV screen, and it immediately gave an image.

He wasn't anything special. Short dark hair, brown eyes. He looked to be human, but remembering humanlike Kurama and Hiei standing beside him, Yusuke knew it wasn't safe to assume that. The picture was only of his round tan face. After studying it for a few minutes, the five turned back to the prince.

"So, who is he?" The initiative was taken by Yusuke.

Koenma sighed before answering. "I don't know."

"WHAT?" Five voices chimed, each with varying levels of anger and volume.

"All I know is he's been emitting strange energy. It's not human, but it doesn't seem demon either."

"That only leaves one other kind…." Kurama muttered, remembering Sensui, and all the trouble he caused.

"No, it isn't sacred either. That's just it. We don't know what kind. It's your next mission to find out who he is, what kind of energy, and most important, is he dangerous."

The image on the screen changed, showing Yusuke's worst nightmare.

"He is the band instructor of this high school, Oiretsym."

"You're telling us… we have to go to that school?" Yusuke yelled.

"No. It would be too dangerous sending all of you there. I'm not about to risk your lives!"

"You have before," Kuwabara muttered.

Koenma ignored him, and waited for the screen to once again change. It did, this time showing a second school. "You are to pose as marching band students here, at Rekat. These schools are in the same division, so you'll be competing against each other eventually. When that time comes, you are to investigate that man. Until then, DON'T MESS THIS UP!"

The assembled boys, and girl, stared blankly ahead, all this sinking in. As an afterthought, Koenma added. "Dismissed."

PRESENT TIME

Which led back here. Kurama had enrolled them, courtesy of his Youko voice; misleading the principal into thinking their orphanage caretaker had signed them in. Another twist in Koenma's madness. They were all to be orphans, to keep questions from arising about their home lives, and hopefully keep parent-teacher conferences from popping up.

Only the five of them occupied the room. It was Sunday, and the teacher had wanted to meet with them personally. "Without anyone else to interfere," he had said. A load of crap.

Yusuke couldn't really complain though. Not when he glanced at Hiei. The fire demon hadn't said a word since they arrived, which was normal. He was sulking in one of the colored plastic chairs, which, minus the chair, was normal. What wasn't normal, was it was the 12th chair he had taken, the first 11 having melted. And it didn't look like number 12 was going to last much longer.

Kurama had tried to talk to Hiei, calm him down in ways Yusuke couldn't begin to mirror, but even the patient redhead had finally admitted his defeat. The most levelheaded was now leaning against the wall, reading a book.

Kuwabara had taken to trying to make sense of the music sheets he'd found. Notes littered the paper, and though Yusuke knew he'd have no better luck, he still found himself laughing at his friend's stupidity.

It was Botan who was getting on everyone's nerves. She was humming a song no one recognized, and exploring every corner of the giant square shaped room. Chairs would often get in her way, causing her to jump onto, then over them, or just knock them over. Every time a chair would fall, she would say "Oh, terribly sorry," in such an upbeat voice that Yusuke was really starting to worry that Hiei might kill her. The chair he sat in was barely a chair by now.

"Uh, this dot is higher on the line than this dot, so that means… it's higher?" Kuwabara asked no one in particular. Botan heard, and bounded over.

"Yes, that's right! This one here," she said, pointing to the lower dot, "is an "F", and this one here," she now pointed to the higher one, "is a "C"!" She announced gleefully.

"You can read that?" Yusuke asked, almost curious.

"Of course! I've been alive for far too long to not know anything about music! Just remember, SPACE spells FACE!" She giggled.

Four pairs of eyes stared at her. "What. The. Heck," Yusuke forced out.

"The names of the notes! They're, oh never mind!" She yelled, frustrated.

The door opened then, letting in the band teacher. "Sorry for making you wait," he said, walking to the new students. "I'm Mr. Nesul."

END OF CHAPTER 1 

FW: Blah, blah, blah. And so ends my first chapter. This is, in case you didn't notice, different from what I usually write.

Hiei: Hn. Shouldn't write at all.

FW: No, I shouldn't. Would save electric bills and give me more time on my homework, which we all know I need. But I write anyway!

Kurama: It took you so much writing to say nothing.

FW: Yeah, I know. Starting slow, but it'll get better, I think. And hopefully it'll be funnier. I don't know. See what happens. If you want to review, great! If not, ok. And if you get the urge to flame, have fun! I'll take it in stride!


	2. Introductions

FW: Ok, first off, thanks for waiting so long! Second off, sorry for making you wait so long! Explanation time: my other two stories, "WHAT did you just say?" and what "Kurama's REALLY thinking" have been taken down by because they count as "lists" and not actually stories. I got a penalty for posting them. Couldn't write until now. So you see, it's not fair to throw random objects at me for that!

Yusuke: (throws a random object at her)

FW: HEY! Didn't you listen?

Yusuke: I didn't throw it for being away, I threw it for coming back!

FW: …Glad to know I'm loved.

Botan: I'm actually looking forward to this! I like music!

Hiei: (his aura starts becoming visible)

Kurama: Hiei….

FW: Ok… TIME TO START!

Diclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, or any instrument. Except my own trumpet, and I don't own Google either, nor the images. START 

Mr. Nesul obviously had a lot of experience dealing with angry teenagers, for he walked into the room without hesitation, despite Hiei's glare, Yusuke's boredom, and Kuwabara's frustration. Kurama set his book aside, and Botan finally shut her mouth. "Now you know who I am, introduce yourselves, if you don't mind."

"We mind." Hiei stated flatly, earning a curious look from their new teacher, and glares from his teammates.

"That's Hiei. He's a bit… anti-social," Kurama said, casting Hiei a quick don't-mess-with-me look. Hiei hn'ed and turned away. "My name is Kurama. Pleased to meet you."

For a second, Yusuke thought Kurama actually made a mistake in calling himself by his demon name. He quickly remembered the next quirk to their identities though. For once, Kurama wouldn't be using his human name. Koenma knew that if his mother, being very interested in his school life, happened to hear about her son in another school, she would want to talk to the school's head, would cause problems. Especially since they were "orphans." Koenma wasn't worried about the other members because Hiei and Botan had no parents to speak of, and not in the human world regardless, Kuwabara's sister would know about the mission and have no problem with it, and Yusuke's mom just flat out wouldn't care.

Yusuke grinned. To think, he almost thought the almighty Kurama made a mistake….

Mr. Nesul was musing as well during this time, and now spoke up. "What about your last name?"

Kurama feigned sadness, something easy to do, what with him being a master thief. "My last name is unknown. Even to myself. I was found as a young child, before my memory. I adopted the name "Kurama" from a fairy tale I read." Hiei smirked a little. Everyone, except the teacher, knew he was talking about his former self.

"Sorry I asked. Is Hiei like that too?"

"Yes, I'm afraid," Kurama lied easily. "He never actually chose the name, the orphanage did so for identification purposes.

Botan wasn't as good as keeping a straight face, and giggled giddily at the redhead's joke, turning the attention to her. "Oh, right! My name is Botan!"

"Do you have a last name?"

Here, she hesitated. With Kurama and Hiei not claiming last names, it may have looked suspicious if she didn't either. She really didn't have one though! Thinking quickly, she chose a name randomly.

"Jaganshi."

Yusuke choked on a cigarette no one knew he'd been smoking. Kuwabara looked like he was going to faint. Kurama stared blankly at her, for once dumbfounded. Hiei, well, he looked ready to kill.

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi, toughest kid on the block!" Yusuke broke the silence quickly, hoping to spare Botan a painful death.

"And I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, the real toughest kid on the block!" Kuwabara jumped in.

Mr. Nesul blinked.

"I don't think it was a good idea to include your "toughness" in your introductions," Kurama muttered to Yusuke, who ignored him.

Mr. Nesul put any uneasiness aside quickly, and smiled warmly at them all. "I'm grateful you all have an interest in music, but it isn't all fun and games. Are you sure you're up for this?"

After all their affirmations, he continued. "Well, what instrument do you play?"

The killer question. No of them could actually do anything. Or so they thought.

"I'm a little rusty, but I think I can still play the flute," Botan answered, thoughtful.

The others just went with their instincts.

"Drums," Yusuke answered, with a strange feeling that he was deciding how he wanted to die, like how sometimes people are given the choice of gun or knife.

"Trumpet," Kurama said, thinking somewhere in the back of his mind that trumpets are the most well-rounded instrument for beginners as far as the highest and lowest notes go.

"Sousaphone," Hiei answered, not really having any clue what he'd just said. (FW: If you don't know what a sousaphone is, go to Goole images and look it up)

"Nothing," Kuwabara said.

"He were causing trouble at the orphanage, so we decided to drag him along," Yusuke quickly added.

"Well then the first thing is to find an instrument for you," Mr. Nesul said, running a hand quickly through what remained of his almost chocolate colored hair. The hair that should have been in the center of his forehead and back about three inches was gone, and the rest would follow in a few years. "Follow me."

He led them all to another room, full of school instruments. For the first time since arriving here, Yusuke was impressed. There were all kinds of brass instruments all over the shelves, the golden color glittering beautifully. There were a few traces of silver and black, coming from flutes and clarinets too, but the main shine was definitely yellow.

Yusuke wasn't the only one impressed. Botan was humming again in delight.

Mr. Nesul stopped in the center of the room, turning to face them. "You can borrow your instruments from the school, but at the end of the season, you have to give them back."

"The fool. He says that as though we might actually want to keep them." Luckily, Hiei muttered that so softly, Mr. Nesul's aged hearing didn't pick it up.

"Now, Kazuma, was it? What would you like to try first?"

Yusuke could almost see the gears turning in his pal's head. Turning very slowly, mind you. "How about that?" He finally asked, pointing.

"…That's a drumstick."

Kuwabara frowned. "Ok, I'm lost. You pick something."

Mr. Nesul took a clarinet from a lower shelf and handed it to him. "See if you can play a note," he instructed.

Kuwabara played something, but it was far from a note.

"IT BURNS!" Yusuke yelled, covering his ears for protection.

"Stop!" Kurama almost yelled, following Yusuke's defense idea, watching the withering form of Botan on the floor.

Hiei wasn't as patient. He whipped out his ever-faithful sword, and sliced the offensive noisemaker in half. (FW: No, not Kuwabara, the clarinet)

No one moved.

"I hope you can pay for that."

END CHAPTER 2 

FW: And so we go. Usually, I don't plan ahead at all. It just sort of… comes to me. It helps me to use reviewer suggestions too. But this time, I have an idea! Hiei vs. the sousaphone! I don't know when I'll write it, but you can look forward to it, BECAUSE I WILL WRITE IT!

Kuwabara: What's a sousaphone?

Botan: Let's just say Hiei won't enjoy it very much.

Hiei: Hn.

FW: So, I'll see you all next time, reviews are appreciated, but not required. Flamers are welcome. As always, I'll take it in stride!


	3. Kuwabara Has Talent! Or Not

FW: And I return! Yay!

Hiei: Shut up.

FW: Well that's right to the point. Actually, I'm in the middle of a brain freeze, but since I like to update often, I'm writing anyway!

Yusuke: Then this chapter will be worse than usual!  
Kurama: I don't think that's possible.

FW: You'd be surprised. So, sorry if this isn't up my par, but hey! It's better than waiting a few months, right! Right?

Kuwabara: I'd rather have the wait.

All Yu Yu gang: (nod)

FW: But it's MY vote that counts, so here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

It was about three hours after the clarinet incident, and Kuwabara was still trying to find something, **anything**, that didn't sound like a total "piece of crap," as Yusuke had taken to calling it.

Kuwabara had tried, and failed, with an endless list of instruments, now including clarinet, trumpet, trombone, all types of drums, bells, baritone, obo, French horn, and flute. He had been thrilled at his inability to play flute, having labeled them as "girly", and now he could save his masculinity.

Or what was left of it.

Kurama had gotten out his book a few times, but with Kuwabara's endless onslaught to his ears, he couldn't concentrate, and always ended up putting it away, sighing.

Mr. Nesul was the only person who hadn't grown overly bored or frustrated yet. He kept an air of patience and understanding, the mark of an amazing teacher. At each failure, he would silently replace the instrument in its case, and pull down a new one. He was encouraging too, in ways that no one could describe, seeing how he hadn't said a word since the clarinet, save for saying the next piece's name.

At last, Botan had had enough. "Can't you just put him on triangle?" She whined, anxious to leave.

"That's not much of an instrument to have full time, Botan," Mr. Nesul finally spoke.

"We may not have any other choice," Kurama pointed out seriously.

"Aw come on guys! I'll get the hang of one of them!" Kuwabara protested.

"No, you really won't," Yusuke groaned. He more than anyone else was aggravated. He hated being in school as is, and he was slowly growing deaf. Not exactly a plus.

Hiei had taken to amusing himself by sharpening his sword, a silent death threat to the moron. What was he sharpening it with? The clarinet halves, of course. Seeing how they were useless, Mr. Nesul didn't bother stop him.

Mr. Nesul sighed. "The last thing I can offer you is the saxophone," he said, handing the final brass object over.

Kuwabara accepted the offering, holding the reed up to his lips. "So this is what it's come to," he thought. "My last chance to redeem myself. If I fail at this, I'm done." He put his fingers on their positions. "Everything rides on this. I can't mess it up!" With that thought in mind, he blew through the reed and…

The most beautiful note escaped from the end. If by beautiful, you mean ear splitting, brain wrenching, horrible, kill-me-now-I-can't-take-it sound.

"And there we have it boys and girl!" Yusuke announced, "Kuwabara officially has no reason for his existence!"

Mr. Nesul sighed sadly and gently pried the object from Kuwabara's shocked hands. He replaced it in its case and to everyone's shock, handed it to the tallest spirit detective. "You'll learn to play it in time, and you did show more signs of being able to improve in this more than anything else."

"The nice way to say you stink," Yusuke translated.

Mr. Nesul ignored him and retrieved the trumpet for Kurama, handing it to him. Next he found a spare flute for Botan, and gave it to her. "You three can take these home with you to practice. Hiei, Yusuke, I'm sorry, but your instruments aren't allowed to leave the premises unsupervised."

Sensing he could finally leave this horror, Hiei tossed the broken pieces of the clarinet aside, resheathing his sword. "Fine," he replied, wanting to end any pointless conversation.

With short goodbyes, the five left, three carrying their death sentences. They all walked in silence. Kuwabara still hadn't recovered from his pathetic inability to do ANYTHING.

"Botan, can you teach me some of the basics for reading?" Kurama asked, remembering how she alone could understand the music sheets.

"Of course! We can meet at your house! Oh, do you mind if I cook you dinner? I've been wanting to try a new recipe. Let's see, what did they call it…? Something about Italy? Or was it Romanian?" She continued on, though no one was really listening anymore.

"Not your best idea Fox," Hiei muttered to a more put-out Kurama. He knew this wouldn't be fun.

Kuwabara finally snapped out of his trance, and sentenced himself to the same torture. "Hey, can I come by too?"

Botan was thrilled, and immediately ok'ed it, even though it wasn't her house.

"Yusuke laughed at them. "Have fun! I'm going to the arcade-"

Before Yusuke could leave, Kurama grabbed his arm with reflexes only an animal could possess. "I think you should learn to read the notes too." He said slowly, evilly.Yusuke gulped, knowing he was cornered, but tried to escape anyway. "Na, that's ok. I'll just be going now…." Kurama didn't let go.

"No, I insist, you could benefit as much as us."

Maybe he was just imagining it, but looking into his friend's eyes, Yusuke could have sworn he saw a golden tint.

Botan was thrilled. "Great! We'll have a lovely time! Do you like garlic?" Hiei raised an eyebrow at her question aimed at all of them.

"Morons." He muttered.

"Maybe you should join us too, Hiei," the redhead aimed for his new victim.

But at the word "join", Hiei had already run faster than the eye could see to safety.

"Smart demon," Yusuke muttered, knowing this evening would be complete, and total heck.

END 

FW: Decent, horrible? 50/50 I figure.

All the Yu Yu gang: Horrible.

FW: Yeah, and it's shorter than usual too… darn. Oh well. It's done, and I've left next chapter open. Sorry, probably no Hiei next time.

Hiei: (smirks)

Kuwabara: Lucky.

Botan: (still jabbering on about her plans)

FW: …You'd think she'd have to breathe every now and then….

Yusuke: All the ingredients she's listing off, this is gonna cost you a fortune Kurama!

FW: And while I settle this, review if you want, it's fine either way. And flame if you think I deserve it. I'll take it in stride!


	4. Just Remember: SPACE Spells FACE

FW: So I return once again. (tomatoe is thrown and barely misses her head) WHAT THE HEY!

Kurama: Hiei, you shouldn't waste vegetables.

Hiei: Stupid Fox. I didn't throw it.

Yusuke: Then who did?

Botan: Oh no, not HER again!

Solaluvessasuke: (jumps out of the shadows) Ha ha ha ha ha! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SOLA!

FW: …Do you have to make it your personal business to intrude in every one of my fics?

Sola: No, I have a life! This is just fun!

Kuwabara: Really? You have a life?

Sola: Yeah! I just don't have time to live it!

FW: Could have guessed. If you don't know her, this is Solaluvessasuke, or Sola, a friend of mine, both on and offline. She comes by every now and then and basically ruins my life.

Sola: (smiles angelically)

FW: Shut up.

START 

Kurama stared at the sight before him. It was far from pretty. Kuwabara and Yusuke were grappling on the floor, and Botan was playing referee. Kurama alone was still sane. Looking back, he cursed how fate had led them to this predicament.

FLASHBACK 

Everything had started innocently enough. They had all gathered to learn to read music, and practice their instrument a little, not including Yusuke, who didn't have his. They were currently in Kurama's room, all standing.

"Ok," Botan beamed, holding up a music sheet she'd borrowed from Mr. Nesul. She pointed to the lowest note on the sheet, which was halfway through the last line. "This is an "E". And this," she pointed to the note in the space between the lowest and second to lowest line. "Is an "F."

"Like Kuwabara's grades," Yusuke clarified.

"Your's too!" He retaliated, aiming a punch at his best friend, who easily caught it.

"So, you just have to memorize them?" Yusuke asked, fearing the worst. To release some anger, he slowly applied pressure to the clumsy detective's fist still in his hand, reminding Kuwabara why HE was the leader. Besides, it was fun listening to his little pained noises.

"Yusuke, let go of him. You're going to break his fingers," Kurama sighed. Yusuke obeyed, and Kuwabara rubbed his reddened knuckles.

"Yes, you'll have to memorize them," Botan said, having overlooked everything that happened. Ignoring Yusuke's groan, she continued, "but there's a little trick to helping to remember!"

She struck a dramatic pose, her right hand extending to make the peace sign, and her left resting on her hip. She smiled broadly, winking, "IT'S THE FACE AND SENTENCE RULE!"

Fat sweatdrops appeared on the boys' heads as they waited for her to return to a normal stance and explain. Or fall over, as she couldn't have been well balanced standing like that.

The former happened. She took a seat on Kurama's bed, occupying it all by herself. "All the notes between the lines, from bottom to top, are named F, A, C, E. So, to remember that, SPACE spells FACE!"

"That makes sense, I guess," the fox contemplated. Tossing a glance at the Botan's other "students" and their blank expressions told him they'd be here a lot longer than he'd hoped.

Botan wasn't discouraged. She was having fun teaching, and the hopelessness in her pupils only meant she had more time. "Look," she instructed, pointing to a note on the sheet. "This is a…?"

"C?"

"R?"

"Kuwabara! Did you hear me even say "R"?"  
"You said something?"

Kurama slapped his forehead in complete frustration. How could ANYONE be so stupid without trying! He left the room to get a glace of water while Botan explained the FACE again.

He returned to find them still discussing it, turned around, and left to refill his glace.

After four glasses, he rejoined his friends, as Kuwabara and Yusuke finally understood.

"All right, now for learning the line-notes. This is a bit more tricky," she warned. "The notes that are on top of a line's names are E, G, B, D, and F, starting from the bottom. So, Elvis's Guitar Broke Down Friday."

"WHAT DOES ELVIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!" Yusuke yelled, banging his fist on Kurama's wall, making a small crater in it, much to the owner's annoyance.

"Well, if you don't like Elvis, you can have Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge."

"I deserve fudge," Kuwabara muttered, getting a dreamy look in his eye.

"Only GOOD boys do," Kurama muttered, his headache slowly growing.

"Elvis, fudge, mind telling us WHAT THE HECK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Oh yeah! Forgot about that part!" Botan giggled. "The first letter of every word in the sentence is the note name! See, the E starting Elvis is the lowest line-note, the G in Guitar is the next line-note, and so on!" She smiled perfectly happy.

"There are a lot of sentences! Once you get the hang of them, they're really neat! Like "Every Girl Bakes Delicious Fudge", and "Ernie Gave Bert Dead Frogs", and "Excited-"

No one listened to the rest of her sentence. Kurama had already memorized the notes, Kuwabara was spacing out, and Yusuke had his own way to remember. "Ever Giddy Botan Does…" he said, stumbling on the "F". Botan looked to him at disapproval for use of her name, but his other friends thought it was amusing. "Ever Giddy Botan does… Fly," he finished.

"Fly?" Kurama asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well she does!" Yusuke defended himself. "See you do better!"

"Gladly. Every Gangster Band Does Fail."

Yusuke nodded, acknowledging Kurama's victory. "Kuwabara?" He asked, waiting for his five-word sentence.

"Uh… Elvis's Guitar Broke Down Friday."

"You cheated," Yusuke stated.

A timer went off in the kitchen. "Oh good! Dinner's ready!" Botan jumped up, eccentrically racing to the kitchen to serve it. Whatever "it" was, no one really knew.

"Bet it's not really edible," Yusuke muttered, following Botan at a slower pace, careful to keep her out of earshot.

"Probably right," Kuwabara quickly agreed, and even the kinder fox nodded.

"…I bet I can eat more than both of you put together without throwing up," the head detective challenged.

Kurama groaned, knowing where this was headed….

"YOU'RE ON URAMESHI!"

Some things never change….

And so it went. Yusuke and Kuwabara quickly had an eating contest, despite the "Romanian meatloaf's" purple color, and the green color of their faces. Boton hadn't been willing to "let such hard work go to waste" and had several helpings herself. Kurama didn't eat any, pleading not hungry. They had all bugged him about it, but had eventually given up, leaving him to watch the events that followed.

No one really expected Botan to be a good cook, but how she managed to create a new kind of alcohol is anyone's guess. But after the third for her, fourth for the boys, helping, they all began to act… "strange".

"Oh dear God…" the only non-drunk muttered, green eyes widening as the three started singing Spice Girls hits. He was real grateful his mom was out with friends until tomorrow.

PRESENT 

And basically, that's how it went. Now he was the single spectator of the wrestling match who Yusuke eventually won by punching his opponent right in the temple, knocking him out. Kurama winced. "That's going to bruise…" he thought, watching the dark haired boy cover the lump of Kuwabara for the three count. More like sixteen, because she had trouble remembering what came after two.

Hiei watched from outside, sitting on his favorite tree branch. He smirked, watching the redhead's suffering. "Stupid fox," he muttered, once again thankful that he was the fastest.

END 

Sola: THAT'S IT! WRITE MORE!

FW: (reclining in a chair) Nope. I'm done for the day.

Sola: (tips the chair backwards, watching FW fall)

FW: (hits her head and blacks out upon impact)

Sola: …MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW I CAN TAKE OVER!

Yusuke: (pokes FW's head) And she calls herself a fighter?

Hiei: Good. Maybe she's dead.

Kurama: She can't be hurt in this world, I doubt she could die.

Kuwabara: But if she can't be hurt, how'd she get knocked out?

Kurama: Well, you see, (starts talking all high tech)

Sola: (takes out a whip) I'm placing myself in command, and you'll all do what I say! Kurama… go out with me.

Kurama: (stops talking all high tech) WHAT!

Sola: Kuwabara, die.

Hiei: I'll take care of that myself. (unsheathes sword)

Sola: Reviewers, DON'T FLAME!

FW: (upon hearing this, her worst nightmare, she wakes up) NOOOOOOOOOOO! THEY CAN FLAME IF THEY WANT!

Sola: Darn, she woke up.

FW: (ignoring Sola) I'LL TAKE IT IN STRIDE! (pauses) AND MY HEAD HURTS!


	5. Section Leaders are Creepy

FW: FRIDAY! God, I love the weekend!

Yusuke: Who doesn't?

FW: Actually, I have a friend who likes school.

Botan: I guess Sola is stranger than I thought….

FW: No, not her. How could she like school? She's lucky to be passing!

Sola: (from far, far away) ACHOO!

FW: Well, let's make this a quick one. I'm going to a Christian meeting soon.

Hiei: You're a Christian who spends her free time writing about demons?

FW: Basically.

Hiei: Hypocrite.

FW: …I've been called that before…. And before I forget, again, Relick-sama, PLEASE win your fight with Hiei! I don't want to die!

Hiei: Fool. How can she fight me when I'm standing in front of you?

FW: Didn't think of that yet….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kurama woke with a start hearing two very familiar male voices. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his sore neck. Slowly, he stood, leaving the cold carpet of his floor.

Why had he been sleeping on the floor, one may ask. The answer was simple enough: there was no room left on his bed. Shortly after his "victory", Yusuke had passed out, followed by Botan. Well, being the gentleman he was, Kurama wasn't about to leave them there, so he placed Yusuke gently on his bed and carried Botan down to the couch. Without any room for Kuwabara, Kurama had just tossed the teenager onto the bed next to Yusuke without thinking.

Not such a good idea.

The fox now glanced at the two boys. Yusuke was on the floor, apparently having fallen out when he noticed his "bunkmate". Kuwabara was still sitting on the bed, sheets pulled up to his chin, which Kurama realized wasn't necessary, because they were both decent. (FW: No, this isn't yoai. They didn't do anything)

Without commenting, Kurama left the room to prepare breakfast before Botan decided to wake up and give them all another round.

About half an hour later, the detectives worked things out between them, satisfied that nothing happened, and joined the redhead for toast and orange juice.

"Isn't it early to eat?" Yusuke asked wearily, stomach still hurting from last night.

"It's never a bad time to eat!" Kuwabara greedily shoved all his food into his black hole of a mouth.

"IT'S 3:30 AM!"

"Well, there's no way any of us will fall asleep again, so…." Kurama muttered, helping himself to his food before Kuwabara got to it. At Yusuke's hesitation, the orange haired boy had already eaten both of theirs.

"Could you keep it down?" Botan whispered, slowly walking into the room, hand holding her head. She was obviously having a serious hangover.

Too bad Yusuke didn't hear her. "WHAT!" He yelled unnecessarily.

Botan grimaced tossing her hands over her ears in pain.

"She said be quiet," the redhead clarified. "Hurry up with your breakfasts. Today is the first band practice, and we need to find Hiei."

"Hn." At his trademark phrase, Hiei was suddenly visible beside Botan, who jumped in shock, the sudden movement hurting her head.

"So what time does band start?" Yusuke asked Kurama, figuring he'd know all this.

"It's the first class of the day, starts at 7:30."

"We have four hours."

"Yes."

"Good. I'm going back to sleep." The top detective turned and marched back to Kurama's room, waving over his shoulder.

Botan and Kuwabara quickly followed his example, the girl hoping to sleep off her hangover. Which left the two demon friends.

Kurama glanced at Hiei. "You need to wear something else."

"Why?"

"Because you'll never pass for a human wearing a cloak."

"I don't want to be thought of as a human."

The fox took a deep breath. He'd known this would be hard, but really now…. "And you need to leave the sword."

"No."

"Hiei! You're going to high school! You don't need to slice anything!"

Using his jagon to glance at the fast asleep Kuwabara, Hiei muttered, "You can't be sure of that."

Kurama was quickly losing his patience. He forcibly grabbed Hiei's wrist and literally dragged him up the stairs to his room, throwing some "normal" clothes at him. "Change," he commanded.

"No."

Vines started appearing around the angered fox, reaching threateningly to the watchful fire demon. "Are you going to cooperate, or do you need… convincing?"

Hiei cursed his luck. Should have stayed away for a few more hours…. Deciding this wasn't getting them anywhere, he finally nodded. "Hn."

Kurama smiled and left his room, giving his friend some privacy. Yusuke, who was on his bed, didn't count, seeing how he was unconscious.

Kurama waited a few minutes, before knocking. "Hiei? Are you almost done?"

Nothing.

"Hiei, is everything ok?"

Nothing.

Fearing the worst, Kurama burst in. "Hiei!" He yelled, scanning the room to find… nothing. Except the clothes Hiei was to wear. And an open window.

"I will kill him."

LATER 

It was 7:20. The four detectives and ferry girl were gathered outside the school, gazing up at it with uncertainty. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Yusuke said, leading the way, followed by his friends.

The halls were full of students rushing to their classes, but the five evaded them easily, reaching their designated room.

Their eyes widened upon entering. It was complete chaos! Random horns blew random notes from every direction, girls were catching up on the latest gossip, a few students were trying to jump OVER the piano, and a boy was playing dead, occasionally getting stepped on.

Ah the life of a band student….

Mr. Nesul entered the room then, taking his place at the front of the class. "Excuse me," he almost whispered.

"There's no way anyone will even hear him, let alone shut up," Hiei muttered, but to his surprise, the room had gone deathly silent. Not a soul moved.

"We have five new students joining us today," Mr. Nesul continued, beckoning for the said students to join him up front, which they did.

"Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Botan Jaganshi," Hiei bristled slightly at Jaganshi. The teacher quickly pointed out where each section was, and the five were forced to split up.

Hiei joined the sousaphone area, where the other players looked at him suspiciously. Maybe it was the black cloak Kurama had warned him not to wear. Or the sword by his side.

"Can you even lift a sousaphone?" Of course, it could also have been his height.

Hiei's eyebrow twitched.

Meanwhile, Kurama wasn't having much luck either. The only open seats were on either side of a normal sized brunette girl. "Hey," she said, not even glancing at him.

"Hello," he responded.

"People stay away from me. They think I'm weird. Do you think I'm weird? I'm not weird. Mr. Nesul's cool. I like Mr. Nesul. But I like Flactem more… yes, Flactem is very good… NICKLES!" She yelled unexpectedly.

Kurama sweatdroped. He had a pretty good idea why the only trumpet seats open were around her.

Botan was having a better, if not awkward time. "You're hot," the blonde next to her stated for the millionth time, staring at her.

"Thank you, I think," she said back. It was just her luck that she'd chosen to sit next to the only boy flutist.

"That's Joane," the girl sitting next to her muttered. "He's the flute section leader, but a little… off."

"Great…."

Yusuke was meeting his own section leader. A dark haired girl named Mia. She had a pretty face and a sweet smile, but when she was wearing a black shirt that said "F#CK YOU!", Yusuke knew he had to be careful.

"Ok, what kind of percussion?" She asked, buisiness like.

"Uh… snare," he answered, reading the word off a poster behind her head. "Ok, we got an opening, because one of our members mysteriously… "disappeared"," she smiled evilly, making the boy trust her even less.

"Here we go!" She said, handing him the instrument. "Ignore the stains," she instructed, heading back to her bells.

"…Are these blood stains?"

As for Kuwabara….

"Kazuma, the saxophone section is INSIDE the band room."

END CHAPTER 5 

FW: I wanted to have the whole class in this chapter, but I took so long with preparations again….

Kurama: You always do.

FW: You know, you guys aren't much for support.

Kuwabara: Course not! We WANT you to stop!

FW: Wow, you sounded smart!

Kuwabara: Huh?

Yusuke: RUN! IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!

Hiei: The Makai should be safe!

Botan: I'll open us a portal!

Everyone but Kuwabara: (runs off to the Makai)

Kuwabara: What? (notices a letter from FW. Opens and reads it) In case I run off the Maksai to avoid the apocalypse, reviews are welcome, but not necessary. Flames are welcome to, I'll take it in stride!


	6. Mr Nesul's Wraith: Over Already?

FW: (from deep in the Makai, updating with a laptop) Ok, so I took 2 days off. But when you think about it, it's not really my fault! See, they wouldn't let me post Saturday for some reason, and Sunday was Catholic Easter! Not mine, mind you. I've got to wait for May 1.

Yusuke: Ya know, I think the human world is still intact….

Hiei: So?

Yusuke: Well, then it isn't really the apocalypse….

Kurama: Are you suggesting that Kuwabara was smart by himself?

Botan: No, that's impossible.

FW: Well, to be on the safe side, let's hang out here for a while.

Kurama: Agreed.

Hiei: Wait… who invited you to survive with us?

FW: Heh heh…. Oh crap….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

After Kuwabara had returned and found a seat in his section, the band practice officially began. Music sheets were handed out to the newcomers, and Mr. Nesul sat on the stool at the front of the class, preparing to conduct. He took a wooden conductor's wand from a clear box, and waited for the ensemble to be ready.

Naturally, it took a lot longer than he thought.

Despite the distraction sitting next to her, Botan was quickly set, the flute in position, quickly reading over the music to know of any difficult notes ahead of time. She had it the easiest by far.

Tac, as Kurama had learned her name, had been jabbering on non-stop. About MICE of all things. "And I like the purple one best… what was his name? OH IT WAS MICKEY! MICKEY MOUSE! I like Mickey Mouse! He knows where I live though, which is kind of creepy."

The fox sighed, keeping his patience, but she didn't make any sense.

He'd also learned who Flactem, the boy she'd mentioned before was, the trumpet section leader. He still had no idea who he was, what he looked like, or where he sat. All he knew, was that next practice, he'd get there earlier to find a better seat.

Yusuke was having his own issue during all this. The idea of blood stains, though disturbing, didn't bother him so much. He'd been dealing with blood all his life.

But there was a bigger problem: he couldn't find the drumsticks. Now, he could always ask a classmate where to find them, but no, he was WAY above that. Scanning the room, he found nothing that could help at all, and was beginning to actually consider getting some help when he saw it. A clarinet.

Slowly sneaking away from the busily drumming drummers, he made his way to it, and carefully brought it back with him. Sliding back in front of the snare, he found another setback: there was only one clarinet. Sweatdropping, he pulled the two ends apart, for no apparent reason, and was shocked when in came in half in his hands. (FW: Clarinets come apart.)

"Well what do ya know…" he muttered, grinning. "Problem solved."

The thickest of the five wasn't having a good day. He'd gotten the saxophone out of the case all right, but had somehow managed to tangle himself and the section leader in the shoulder strap. The saxophones were trying to help out, naturally, and had only managed to make then even more intertwined. It didn't help either, that the leader happened to be very male, and very… not straight.

"We might have to cut it off," one of the players said sadly.

"But they're so close together, we might hurt one!" Another player quickly added.

"That's true," the leader said slowly, "we'll just have to stay like this until someone can free us."

Sighing, Kuwabara agreed, noticing Hiei laughing at him from a distance.

Said fire demon's fun was short lived. "Here," his own section leader said, handing him the sousaphone, which Hiei now noticed, eyes widening uncharacteristically, was FRICKIN' HUGE!

The other members were already putting their instruments into position, resting on their shoulders. Reluctantly, Hiei took the giant brass object, and tried to mirror them. Keyword: tried.

He was used to all the short jokes, and they honestly never bothered him, seeing how he could easily carry his own, and often Kuwabara's, weight. But just this once, he found himself cursing the height disadvantage.

Simply put, the sousaphone weighed too much, and once on his shoulder, he came crashing down to the floor. The whole band glanced in his direction, wondering what had happened. The farthest ones couldn't see anything, the closer noticed a small boy crushed by his instrument.

"Hiei!" Kurama rushed over, immediately concerned for his best friend. Yeah, he ticked off the now worried fox, but they were still VERY close.

Yusuke, Botan, Kuwabara, and the saxophone section leader, who didn't really have a choice in the matter, were also hurrying over to the hopefully uninjured demon.

Gently, the sousaphones players reached down to remove the offending brass, but retracted their arms quickly, as if in pain.

Kurama was the first of the detectives to reach him, and touching the object, he had to mask his own grimace. It definitely wasn't his imagination. Hiei was melting the sousaphone out of pure rage. "Hiei… don't…." He muttered.

All the section leaders and Mr. Nesul also rushed now to see if Hiei was badly hurt.

"Is he dead?" Mia asked, nudging the brass with her foot. "Too bad, he was hot."

"Mia, now is NOT the time!" A mountain of a senior stated, clearly angry. Glancing over at the trumpet still in his right hand, Kurama finally knew his section leader.

"Why hasn't anyone tried to get this off him?" Mr. Nesul demanded, taking matters into his own hands, and like others before him, leaning over the free Hiei.

At a slight shake of Kurama's head, Yusuke stared. "No, he isn't BURNING the thing!" he thought, but braced himself and grabbed the instrument himself, ignoring his burning hands. Grunting, he heaved it off, revealing, a perfectly unharmed fire demon, looking even more hateful than usual.

Glaring death, he stood up, and took a seat, the aura about him forbidding anyone from even daring to ask him give it another go.

Shocked at his health, the leaders stared at him, until Mr. Nesul ordered them back to their seats.

Satisfied that everyone who was ready to play could and would, Mr. Nesul started practice. "1…2…3…4" He counted, giving off the beat.

For the most part, the band sounded pretty good. But the teacher's tuned hearing picked up wrong notes, and wrong tunes in three sections. Ignoring two, he moved on the third. "Trumpets, one at a time, starting at the left, play the first measure."

One by one, the redhead watched disappointed as each person played the part perfectly. When it was his turn, he played a "G", which considering, was very good.

"That was a "G"," the adult said, looking directly at him, having found the weak link.

"Yes, is there a problem?" He asked sweetly, hoping he could somehow worm his way out of this.

"I'm afraid so. The note is a "B"."

"….Oh."

"Play a "B"."

Thinking quickly, Kurama thought of an excuse to free him from this torture. Amazing enough, he didn't need it.

"Mr. Nesul, I can't find my clarinet." A thin boy said, noticing just now that his instrument was missing.

Yusuke glanced quickly around, knowing he'd get caught soon, and did the only thing he could to save his skin. "Let's just go back to playing!" He said, mentally kicking himself for sounding like such a nerd. Before anyone could stop him, he whacked the snare with a clarinet half, and watched in horror as the reed flew off, and hit the owner in the back of the head.

The attention shifted to a sweatdropping Yusuke.

"You stole Nich's clarinet."

"Sorry?"

"I'll see you, Hiei, Kurama, Botan, Kuwabara, and if he can't get the saxophone strap off, Tsoy after class."

For the rest of the block, the five managed to keep a low profile, but once the block was done, nothing could spare them.

So now the six were gathered before Mr. Nesul, the sixth being the section leader Tsoy, who hadn't freed himself yet.

Mr. Nesul stood before them, his face clear of all emotion. "None of you have ever really played, have you." It wasn't a question.

Botan opened her mouth, but something about the expression on her teacher's face told her to stay silent.

Mr. Nesul paced before them. "You lied directly to me, putting this whole band in danger. Do you realize how important the show this year is? And I assume none of you have any experience marching? You'll drag this whole ensemble down. I don't want any of you to be a part of this band anymore. Please, get out."

He turned and left the stunned spirit detectives, and Tsoy.

"Now what?" Botan asked quietly.

No one could find an answer for her.

END CHAPTER 6 

FW: First off, this isn't the end. No clue what I'm gonna do now, but I'll keep this running. Second off, I have NOTHING against gays, some of my closest friends are bi which is part of the reason I'm putting Tsoy as gay, because he's important. All the section leaders are, at least a little. Third off, I have nothing against clarinets. I don't know why I keep victimizing them.

Random reader: Wait, wasn't Hiei about to kill you?

FW: Well, you see, since he's been really homicidal lately, I've been carrying a secret pouch of ice cream with me everywhere, in case of emergency!

Hiei: (glaring while eating ice cream)

Botan: We've been here for a while, think it's safe to return to the human world?

Yusuke: Yeah, but do we really want to?

Kurama: Why shouldn't we?

Yusuke: Because Kuwabara's there…. (glances at FW)….

FW: Aw come on….

All the present Yu Yu characters: (sent her back)

Botan: Say hi for me!

Kuwabara: Hey! Where's Urameshi?

FW: Hiding from you. (now for a really corny transition!) But I won't hide from flames. Instead, I'll take it in stride!


	7. Tutoring

FW: Ok, so I return once again….

Kuwabara: (looking around) Where is everyone?

FW: Still in the Makai. Don't know if they're hiding from you or me anymore. (sigh) Oh well, only means it's safer to continue my madness now!

Kuwabara: It's a lot easier to deal with you when they're here….

FW: Too bad for you! Thank you to all my reviewers! I've only gotten one flame so far! Which is WICKED COOL! (skipping around all happy) Oh right! I have to write this chapter! Heh heh, no one wants to see me become a bunny, but that WOULD be an interesting story and-

Readers: GET ON WITH IT!

FW: …….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and clearing up for last chapter, I don't own Mickey Mouse.

START 

The five failed detectives stood in front of Koenma's desk, looking sheepishly at his younger form.

The boss didn't need to ask. "You somehow managed to mess this up, didn't you."

"I so sorry Koenma sir."

"You should be!" The only person smaller than Hiei exploded. "The first competition is this Friday! If you're going to face Oiretsym and its strange instructor, your band has to come in the top three to move on! And if you're not part of the band during the first show, there's no way you'll be able to get in afterward!"

Kurama started at this news. "But it's Monday! That only leaves us four days!"

"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Yusuke demanded, having been denied important information, yet again.

"I didn't think you'd get yourselves thrown out this quickly!" The toddler answered, rubbing his temples in annoyance. "You need to find a way to fix this, or the whole world could be in serious danger!"

"We KNOW that," Hiei grumbled. "What we DON'T know, is how to make that pathetic excuse for a teacher take us back in."

"Well find a way! I'm not going to baby-sit you!" The irony of Koenma's words were caught by the annoyed teens and demons.

"Get out and figure what you're going to do!"

For the second time in two days, the five found themselves kicked out of a room that they needed to be in. Like before, they had no idea what to do next.

"Let's see if we can sort things out with Mr. Nesul," Botan suggested, "maybe he's willing to hear us out."

Without anything better to do, they all quickly agreed.

There was, as usual, a setback. It was only 12:50, meaning school was still in session, and they'd have a hard time getting in the school and explaining themselves to a teacher alone. They did have one advantage though: they were technically students, which meant so long as they were careful about reasons, they could wander the halls without getting arrested.

Avoiding any and everyone, they entered the school, silent and swift shadows on the way to the band room.

"Can't believe I'm actually breaking INTO school," Yusuke muttered, but a jab in the ribs from Kuwabara effectively shut him up.

They never got to the band room. From the shadows, a figure dressed in black leaped out, grabbing a shocked Kurama. Retreating back to the darkness the person came from, holding Kurama tightly, a hand across his mouth to prevent any noise.

The other four came to his aid at once. The fox could easily handle almost any attack on his own, especially one from a human teenager, but using his demonic powers would be more than a little suspicious, and they all knew he wouldn't risk it. So it was up to them to save him.

Stumbling slightly with the struggling redhead, his capture pulled him through a doorway, shutting the door softly. Any sound of protest Kurama had been making was immediately silenced, and his friends glanced at each other, fearing the worst.

Without waiting for a better plan, Yusuke began charging his spirit gun, leaning with his back against the door. "One shot," he whispered, telling his comrades what he intended.

"Don't miss," Hiei warned, letting the detective get a glimpse of his sword, a promise of death should he hit Kurama by mistake.

Nodding his understanding, Yusuke rammed the door with his shoulder, forcing it open. The four piled in, prepared to fight to the death.

They weren't prepared for this though.

The first thing everyone noticed, was Kurama was perfectly fine, quiet only because of the momentary surprise.

The next thing they noticed, was their section leaders, Flactem, the trumpet; Tsoy, the saxophone; Mia, the percussion; Joane, the flute; and the sousaphone leader, who had yet to be named.

What Kurama had noticed last, was his kidnapper, Tac, dressed all in black, her hair pulled up, standing in the corner laughing to herself.

"What's going on here?" Kuwabara asked, confused like everyone else.

"Figured you guys needed a little tutoring," Mia answered, flicking her hair back, grinning at them.

"Tsoy told us what happened," the sousaphone player clarified. "So we've decided to give you a second chance, show you how to play, and maybe even hold the instrument up." Hiei glanced away.

"Ok, so you're all section leaders, right?" Yusuke asked, trying to make sense of this.

"No, I assure you, Tac is NOT a section leader," the demon turned human puzzled.

"She overheard, and fit herself into this alone," Flactem sighed. "Didn't really want her to, but she recognized you, at least, so that's worth something," he added, smiling at Kurama. He next turned to the girl in question. "Finally did something useful, huh?" He teased.

Tac nodded. "Always wanted to do that, leap out of the shadows and drag someone away," she looked up, starry eyed. "My life is complete."

Sweatdrops all around at that comment!

**"**You're all willing to waste your time teaching us, who you haven't even known for a day?" Hiei asked, not understanding.

Tsoy nodded. "Of course. That's the thing about this band. We all look out for each other."

Hiei blinked, surprised. Maybe there was something to this band after all….

So it went. For the rest of the school day, they were taught by their respective leaders. Tac left to rejoin her economics class only when Flactem, her section leader, ordered her to. The seniors had this block off, and the new students just plain didn't care about "normal" classes.

With their secret of not being able to play out, they were taught the basics, and all but Kuwabara learned quickly. Botan, having been experienced, practiced more advanced music with Joane, and though neither would admit it, they were obviously competing. It was hard to tell who was better.

Being a natural at almost everything that came his way, Kurama was flying through beginning exercises. He'd learned the first five notes, an accomplishment for so little time.

The sousaphone leader, now identified as Racly, was teaching Hiei how to properly hold the sousaphone, balancing the weight and subtly holding it up with his left hand, a trick the demon had overlooked. Standing with the giant object was still a difficult task, but he was now able to do it. Smirking, Hiei found himself feeling a sense of pride, which shocked him, seeing how he'd originally thought band would be a nuisance and nothing more. They had yet to play a note.

Yusuke was a natural at hitting things, and Mia had to yell at him for hitting too hard a number of times. "You break it you buy it!" She screeched, voice hitting an unnaturally high pitch.

Yusuke used to drumstick to clean out his ear, "Scream a little louder why don't you?" He yelled back, irritated.

She ripped the stick out of his hand, "You do NOT disrespect the band!"

"You do NOT tell me what to do!"

And so, Yusuke learned NOTHING.

But no matter how bad Yusuke was, he beat his best friend tenfold. Which was even more pathetic, because Kuwabara was actually trying. "Now put your fingers here…" Tsoy said, keeping his calm by taking deep breathes. Often.

"Here?"

"No."

"So long as those fingers don't end up in his nose," Yusuke said, breaking his feud with Mia.

"Come on Urameshi! I don't pick my nose!"

"You did once."

"Nu-uh! I was scratching it!"

"You had an itch in your nose?"

"SHUT UP!" Flactem yelled, sweat rolling down his plump face. Once the room was silent, he continued. "Good, now if you remember, we're here to practice. Our competition is on Friday. If you aren't decent by then, you're out," he looked at his audience. "And so far, most of you sound like my grandma having "fun" with grandpa."

"Flactem, was that necessary?" Kurama asked, face as red as his hair.

He overweight senior laughed. "Of course it was! You all need to know what Grammy does in her free time!"

Raising eyebrows, they all went back to work.

In a classroom on the other side of the hall….

"TAC! GIVE BACK THE ERASERS!"

END CHAPTER 7 

FW: Ok, confession to make: the section leaders, I'm basing them on real people. So, if you're reading this, and you randomly say to yourself, "Wow! That guy acts a lot like me! And that guy's name backwards is this guy's name! And," you get the idea. And if you figure out who I am… uh… heh heh….

Sola: (comes by and gives FW a stapler, then leaves)

FW: OO That was… unexpected….

All the Yu Yu gang who was hiding out in the Makai: (come back)

Kuwabara: Urameshi! Hey, why'd you come back?

Yusuke: Botan threatened to sing if we didn't.

Botan: I didn't threaten! I only said we should sing a song!

Hiei: When you're involved, it's the same thing.

FW: Time to wrap this up. I've got some ideas for the section leaders, but one of them is going to do… "something". I need you guys to tell me your favorite in a review, if you do review, no one's begging…. And should you flame, great! I'll take it in stride!


	8. Getting Back In

FW: As always, I'm here! But I think I'm going to have to start updating every other day, instead of every. Stupid teachers are really piling the workload! Trying to break my back, carrying all those books around!

Kuwabara: If she breaks her back, she won't be writing for a while, right?

Botan: I don't see how she could….

Yusuke: So school's finally good for something!

FW: First off, that's IF, second off, then I'll have more free time to write!

Yusuke: Stupid school, betraying me again….

FW: And another little note, despyrit-sama, I like your "review books"!

Hiei: Review books?

FW: (ignores Hiei) Oh, and the voting for favorite section leader thing, or even Tac, can wait for next chapter, I think, so I'll write this without any disturbances. Uh, I think….

Kurama: You just said that.

FW: I did?

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

At 12:30 for the next two days, the spirit detectives were taught by their leaders in the room Tac had "showed" them. Kurama was on more intermediate levels, Botan was amazing, Hiei had mastered holding the sousaphone, and Kuwabara was even starting to get the hang of it. And Yusuke sat back and watched.

It was currently one of their practices, and said detective was leaning against the wall, watching his friends get better.

Kurama set his trumpet down for a break and joined the dark haired teen. "Ever think about joining us?" He asked, "You need just as much practice."

"Come on," he sighed, nonchalant. "All I have to do is keep a beat. How hard can that be?"

"Harder than you think," Mia grumbled, annoyed at having to waste her precious time when her pupil wasn't even willing to learn.

"Shut it, will ya?" Yusuke said to her. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, and the past few days hadn't helped their relationship at all.

Yelling at a section leader didn't turn out to be a good idea. All the sound stopped as they turned to glare at the offender. "Uh, sorry?" He forced out an apology, not wanting to ruin things again. It worked, as the room was filled with noise again.

He'd been so caught up, he hadn't noticed Mia bringing the snare over to him, or Kurama helping her. He only realized it when it was too late, when they slipped the harness over his head, putting the drum directly on his chest.

Mia thrust a pair of drumsticks in his hand just as Flactem called the fox back over, signaling the end of his break. As he walked past, Kurama muttered, "Good luck."

"F YOU FOX BOY!"

Pointedly ignoring his word choice, his leader handed Yusuke a music sheet. "Play the rhythm," she ordered. Grumbling, he did so.

"No! You're playing dat, dat, dat. It's DOO-dat DOO-dat! She screeched, making Yusuke have to resist cleaning his ear with the stick again.

"Chill, I'll get it…" Banga-banga-banga….

"NO!"

In the meantime, "Hiei, you're holding that pretty well now."

"Hn."

"But band isn't all about looking good. You have to SOUND good too."

Hiei stared, knowing where this was going….

"It's about time you learned to play it."

Glaring, Hiei fit his mouth to the mouthpiece, and decided to imitate Kurama. He quickly realized this was impossible, seeing how Hiei's mouthpiece could fit about 30 of Kurama's inside it….

"Hn."

Taking that as a "Show me how to play it, please," Racly explained how to make a sound.

"You just blow air through your mouth hard," he explained, demonstrating without the sousaphone.

Hiei's eyebrow twitched a few times. Racly looked RIDICULOUS! There was no WAY he'd do that!

Racly blew into the brass, and a low note was summoned. "You try it," he offered. Hiei just continued to stare. "Do you get it?" No answer.

"Hiei…?"

"I'm not doing something so pathetic."

Racly had had enough. Roughly, he shoved Hiei's face into the sousaphone, making sure to get his mouth to the mouthpiece. He held his head firmly in place with one hand, the instrument with the other. "You're going to stay like this until you try."

The demon closed his eyes, willing fire to not leap from his angered body. He would like nothing more than to show this arrogant human who was in control, but then their mission would be failed for real. Slowly opening his eyes, he decided he could obey, just this once.

He blew hard, ignoring the way his lips moved annoyingly and how stupid he felt. Surprisingly, the biggest instrument played perfectly.

"Way to go, Hiei!" Yusuke called out, excited for his friend.

"Shut up and get back to playing!" Yusuke groaned, under the supervision of Mia.

Racly smirked. "Guess I'm a good teacher," he commented, cockily. Hiei's glare just intensified.

Flactem, being a born leader, so naturally being the president of this gathering, called the practice to a halt.

"Tomorrow is the competition. You're all doing great, really, but we haven't even started marching yet. You'll have to be in the pit tomorrow, and work your way out." He announced.

"The pit?" Kuwabara asked.

Flactem nodded seriously. "It's what we call the players up in front. Behind them, the rest of the band marches around, doing a field show. The pit doesn't move because they're handicapped, or their instrument isn't light enough for them to carry. We'll squeeze you in there tomorrow, and as you learn the drill, you'll be put with the rest of the band."

Kurama nodded, seeing the sense of all this. "This field show, what is it like?" He asked, wanting to get an idea of what they were in for.

"Chaos," the trumpeter answered simply. "Clarinets running this way, flutes running that way, all marching the same way, all in step, and then all of a sudden, they make a huge shape, and then come back together to form a giant block," he grinned, seeing their mass look of confusion. "It's just something you have to experience. And whatever you do, don't trip."

"Why?"

He grinned even broader, "Because everyone will run you over!"

Tsoy entered the conversation here. "We've been talking, and if you guys are allowed back, we've got to get it ok'ed by Mr. Nesul. So after school, we're going to have you… "try out"."

Botan nodded at once, confident of her skills. Joane slinked up to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "If he doesn't let you in, I'm sure I could convince him for you…."

She slapped him.

Botan turned away, huffing in rage. She didn't care at all for the blonde boy who had been hitting on her 24/7. There wasn't really anything she could do though, he WAS in charge….

Once school let out, the section leaders led their students to the band room, where they were surprised to find, who else, but Tac.

"Don't you EVER go home?" Racly groaned.

"Well, yeah, but I wanted to see how the new kids do!" She laughed, happy as usual.

"How'd you know about that?" Flactem raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Mr. What's-his-name threw me out," she said, indicating her economics teacher, "so I spied on you guys!"

"…."

Mia gently knocked on Mr. Nesul's office door. "Mr. Nesul," she called softly, almost sounding timid.

"Yes Mia?"

"The new kids, they, well, they want another chance, if you don't mind…."

Yusuke snickered. She was acting completely different around their teacher! Guess she was shy around those greater in power. He stored this information for later use.

"Come in, everyone who was involved in this."

The five pupils walked in first, followed by their section leaders. Tac started to follow, but Flactem stopped her. "You weren't really a partof this."

"Oh come ON!"

Flactem shook his head, indicating he wasn't going to fight her in this matter. "You didn't really do anything. You're NOT going to get yourself kicked out if we do."

"Kicked out?" She asked, shocked at how serious the matter was.

"Yeah, Mr. Nesul's not a happy camper about all this, so go home." Flactem turned and walked into the office, closing the door behind him, leaving the brunette staring after him.

"But all the busses left…."

Inside the office, the gathered players waited for their teacher's next move. They'd all noticed the trumpet leader's tardiness, but decided not to ask. Mr. Nesul took a deep breath, and finally spoke. "What's going on?"

"We taught these students, and want them back in the band," Joane said, getting everything out in the open. "They've gotten good. Give them a try if you want. I think I've taught Botan all right." Said girl fumed. She knew he was trying to take credit for her work!

Mr. Nesul bought it though. "Fine. Let's see what you can do, then I'll decide." He obviously didn't think they'd be much better, and was shocked when Botan played a perfect melody.

Kurama gave it a try next. He stumbled on a few notes, but managed to play almost as well as some of the less experienced freshmen.

Kuwabara, well, he wasn't very good, but he'd improved infinitely from when he started. The gang held their breath, but Mr. Nesul nodded his acceptance of the mediocre performance.

Yusuke still hadn't mastered the concept of DOO-dat, but he made his own rhythm, and tricked the teacher into thinking he had a clue what he was doing.

Hiei hadn't learned to play much yet, but placed the sousaphone on his shoulder, ready. The middle-aged man was clearly impressed with his new ability to hold the sousaphone, and Hiei felt that strange pride again. Forcing it aside, he quickly read Racly's mind using the jagon, picking up fingerings. He played the song well, surprising his peers.

Anxiously, the ten waited for Mr. Nesul's decision. He smiled warmly at them all. "Good work, all of you." He quickly crossed something out of a small black book on his desk before turning to them all again.

"Welcome back."

END CHAPTER 8 

FW: (wipes sweat away) Done!

Botan: Why is Joane so interested in me?

FW: Still working that out…. But I've got a TON of homework, so this has got to be short-

All the Yu Yu characters: YES!

FW: -So please vote for your favorite section leader, or even Tac, I guess, during reviews, if you decide to. Flames are accepted. I'll take it in stride.


	9. First Show

Reader: (glares at FW)

FW: Hey, I told you I wouldn't be updating every day anymore! So, uh, sorry, but I have to pass all my classes!

Hiei: But we all know you won't.

FW: So I failed my last algebra test… I'll make it up! Somehow….

Kurama: There is only three school days left until the end of the quarter.

FW: So I'll make it up fast.

Mia: And thank you for voting ME as your favorite section leader!

FW: Not exactly. As of right now, the votes are tied between Mia and Tac. So, this is gonna be a little different, but I think I can fit them both in if I change my idea a little…. But it won't fit in this chapter, so I'll have to postpone it 'til next.

Mia: Wait, you're saying I TIED, with a girl who EATS PENCILS?

FW: Pretty much.

Tac: (eating pencils in the background)

Botan: Wow… having those two in you sections, I feel sorry for you Yusuke, Kurama.

Joane: Oh Botaaaaaaaaaan….

Botan: Not him again! (hides)

FW: This is a really weird before story thing…. I'm outa here! (runs off to write the story somewhere else)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

"SO I GOT, MYSELF A **ROOSTER!**"

"SO I GOT, MYSELF A **ROOSTER!"**

**"**AND I PUT, IT ON A FENCE!"

"AND I PUT, IT ON A FENCE!"

"Oh God, make it stop!" Yusuke groaned, burying his face in his hands.

It was Friday, and the band had piled into four busses and was on the way to their first competition. Some of the more rowdy sections had invented… "interesting" songs to keep them busy. One of them was a repeat song about a rooster cheering for their school, Rekat.

Kurama, sitting next to Yusuke on the overcrowded bus nodded his agreement. Most of the students, though very talented musically with their instrument, weren't musically talented in anything else. It other words, they stunk.

Botan and Kuwabara were seat buddies, and actually singing along. "Come to think of it," Yusuke thought irritably, "it's not really even a song. It's just one kid screaming a line, then about 60 kids screaming it back at him." Realizing this didn't make him feel any better.

And as for Hiei? All the seats needed to be filled, and all his "friends" had piled with each other, so he was stuck next to a chaperone. Glaring as always. Though it wasn't as effective as usual because the bus driver wasn't very good, and he bounced way too much to be thought of as deadly.

"I SAID A ROOD-A-ROOD-A-ROOD-A TOO TOO!"

"Just kill me now!"

A few hours later, and a very big headache for Yusuke and Kurama later, they arrived. Climbing out of the bus, the first thing everyone noticed was uniforms. A LOT of uniforms. There were at least a thousand high school kids from other bands, proudly holding their instruments and showing their colors.

Botan looked down at their street clothes. T-shirts, jeans, jackets, and a black cloak that Hiei still refused to not wear. "I feel like we're the only normal people at a clown convention," she said, looking around.

"If we're normal, the rest of the world's in trouble," Yusuke said.

They didn't have much more time to dwell on that, because Mr. Nesul was running their way. "Thank God I found you!" He gasped, out of breath from his run. "Here," he continued, handing them a large cardboard box. "Your uniforms. Everyone else already has his or hers. Good luck." With that, he turned and left to discuss something with another band director.

Kuwabara had taken the box, so without further ado, he set it down and opened it up. They all gasped in horror.

Yusuke took out one of the jackets, eying it in disgust. "The worst combination of blue and white they could have come up with!" He said angrily. "And I am NOT tucking in my shirt!"

Kuwabara took the jacket from Yusuke, and pulled out a button down white shirt they were supposed to wear underneath, tucked in, as Yusuke had said. "It's not THAT bad," he muttered.

"Your sixth sense if definitely not in fashion," Botan replied, looking at the tacky black shoes.

"We won't get anywhere complaining," the fox pointed out. "Let's just get this over with." He turned and three of his friends turned to follow, Kuwabara holding the box again.

"Fox?"

"Yes Hiei?"

"Where are we going to change?"

Everyone looked around, trying to figure out where all their peers were changing. Botan was the first to see it. "No…" she stared.

"What?" Yusuke asked, fearing the worst.

"We're supposed to change… on the bus!" She cried.

"…Ew…."

Eventually, they decided to grit their teeth and bear it. One by one, they piled back on the despised bus, and found three empty seats. Botan, being the only girl, naturally claimed the one that would have only one person for herself. Yusuke and Kuwabara paired up, and Kurama and Hiei took a seat. They left the band hats, shakos, in the box.

Botan finished first, having the obvious advantage, and leaned back against her seat, taking a deep breath. Kurama had his uniform ready next, and moved out of his seat to join her. The point behind that being to make it easier for Hiei. Who wasn't even starting to change.

"I'm not wearing it," he said flatly.

"You have to," Kurama groaned. Not again….

"I like black."

"Blue is close to black!"

"Not this blue."

Kurama thought for a second, then used his secret weapon. "I'll never give you any ice cream, ever again."

"…Stupid fox." But Kurama won, as Hiei slowly started to change. Smirking, the redhead turned away, letting the demon change in peace.

Or relative peace.

"GET OFF MY HAND!"

"I'M NOT ON IT!"

The other members of their group had been arguing the whole time, and were tangled in various pieces of their uniform.

And let's not forget the rest of the bus was rowdy, everyone yelling to be heard to their friend.

"Hurry up! We need to be practicing soon!" Mr. Nesul's soft voice sounded from the front of the bus.

"Oh great. Way to go Kuwabara! Not we're not gonna be ready in time!"

"This isn't MY fault!"

"Children!" Botan finally had enough. "Do I need to change you for you?"

"…Ok."

"YUSUKE!"

"I WAS KIDDING!"

With some help from Kurama, the two hopeless detectives managed to get ready. Hiei, with his speed, had been done for some time now. So they all spilled back out into the cool night air. "All that's left are these hats," Yusuke pointed out, grabbing one by the fluffy white feather on top.

"Shakos," Botan corrected.

"Whatever," he responded, putting the black head coverer on. "I think it's too small," he added, noticing how the chain didn't go under his chin, like expected, but rested ON it uncomfortably.

"No, they're supposed to be like that," Botan clarified for him.

Kuwabara and Hiei followed his example, Hiei muttering curses the whole time. Botan followed suit soon after, only taking longer because she had to put her long sapphire hair safely inside, as was custom.

Leaving Kurama with a bare head. "I… can't… do it." He mumbled.

"Vain fox."

"I'm sorry Kurama, but you don't have a choice," Botan pointed out, stepping closer to him.

"Do you have any idea how many people have worn this? Some probably with lice?"

Hiei grinned evilly, using HIS secret weapon. "If you don't, I'll tell your mother you're gay."

"But I'm NOT."

"Will she believe that?" Hiei's grin broadened as he watched Kurama, sadly, put the shako on. His revenge for the uniform wearing was complete.

Seeing Flactem in the crowd, Yusuke called him over. "Where's this "pit" we're supposed to be in?" He asked.

Flactem nodded, the usually present grin visible on his face, and started leading them away. "We're going to practice music and drill a little first. You guys just skip the drill part."

Normally, Flactem looked decent, ignoring how overweight he was, but in the band uniform, he looked hysterical. The black pants clearly only just barely fit, and the jacket ends stuck out in weird angles, moving around his fat. It was all they could do to not laugh.

Surprising though, there wasn't enough time to practice at all! Before they knew it, they were walking to the field, all 150 of them in a giant blob. Flactem was still with them, making sure they got to their place all right, but suddenly another familiar face was visible.

"BOTAN!" Joane cried, running to her.

She groaned as he reached her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Botan, I've been looking everywhere for you!" He gasped.

"Can this wait?" Flactem asked, annoyed. "You can always ask her out AFTER the show!"

"NO! This is about the show!" He yelled, desperately. "The flute soloist, he didn't show!"

"What?" Flactem asked, eyes widening at the situation.

"We can't take out anyone in the drill, it would ruin everything! You've got to fill in!"

Botan stared, shocked. "But I'm in the pit!" She tried to reason with him.

"Soloists NEVER march, it would ruin their sound," he said urgently, "they stay in the pit for that song, then rejoin the band. So you're the only one who can do it!" Joane persisted.

She still wasn't sure, and looked to Flactem for help, hoping he'd tell Joane he was crazy. Instead, the overweight senior nodded. "It doesn't look like we have a choice," he said, accepting the truth. "You can do it though Botan. You're as good a flute as anyone else I've ever heard."

With those encouraging words, Joanetook her away, giving her the music sheets she needed to memorize in ten minutes.

Watching their friend go, they continued to follow the trumpet section leader. He led them down the front of the football field they'd be performing on, and turned to face them. "You've all worked hard, now just do your best," he said, giving each a handshake in turn. Then, he had to hurry off and rejoin his section, setting up for the show.

The rest of the pit was there soon. No one even whispered, it was perfectly quiet.

They knew better than to turn around, so they had no idea what the show looked like or how well it went. They played their parts, or at least the parts they remembered. Hiei cheated and read sousaphone minds to figure it all out. Yusuke had no clue what he was doing, and Kuwabara and Kurama did decently, well, Kuwabara did decently, considering.

As for Botan, she was an angel. Not a single mistake passed through her instrument, even though she had only just memorized it, while her companions had had all week.

From somewhere in the flute section, Yusuke was sure Joane was tripping over his own feet in pure excitement.

Once the show was over, they had to wait about an hour for the other bands to perform and the scores to be set. Botan was VERY popular during that time. The story of her filling last minute had traveled, and everyone it seemed wanted to congratulate her. Mr. Nesul told them how great they did, and a darker fat man started rambling on about God knows what too.

Finally, the scores were read over a megaphone.

"In fifth place, MARCHETON HIGH SCHOOL! In fourth place, BRIDGETOR HIGH SCHOOL! In third place, REKAT HIGH SCHOOL!"

Whoever came in second and first was lost to Rekat students' ears. They were cheering too loudly to hear.

END CHAPTER 9 

FW: That is really what a show is like. And that song from the beginning, we really do sing it.

Kurama: Horrible song.

FW: Yeah, but I've still been known to lead in it….

Kuwabara: Hey, how long is this story gonna be?

FW: I don't know. I really don't. I have SO many ideas, but I don't want it to go for TOO long. I could shorten it though, should my readers ask.

Hiei: You better. (threatens with sword)

FW: You know you can't hurt me in my world. What's the point?

Hiei: Hn.

FW: Well, it's April Fool's Day, so I'm off to play tricks. If you want to review, fine, if not, fine. And if you want to flame, that'sfine too. I'll take it in stride!


	10. Normal Classes!

FW: …(glaring at nothing)

Yusuke: What's her deal?

FW: Sola! She's MAKING me update, when she knows full well I'm injured!

Sola: Suck it up and keep writing.

FW: Yes, "master"….

Sola: And don't be so dramatic! You cut yourself on a CAN OF CAT FOOD!

Kuwabara: Really? Cat food? Man, that's pathetic!

Hiei: And she always brags about fighting.

FW: ……

Sola: (cracks whip) Work faster.

FW: ………

Sola: So everyone who's reading this, you've really got ME to thank that this was written right now.

FW: Once my hand heals, I will kill you.

Yusuke: (taunting) Is that any way to talk to your master?

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, The Song That Never Ends, and I guess I don't own the Rooster song from last chapter, in case anyone's taking notes….

START 

Through the weekend, the thrill of being the most important flutiest stayed with Botan. There wasn't much else she'd even talk about! Yusuke had bought himself a cd player, just for the headphones to try and block her out, while Kuwabara and Kurama would hurry off, claiming they had somewhere else to be. Hiei was just always out of sight.

Luckily, the weekend never lasts long for a teenager, and this case was no exeption. They were all back in school for first block on Monday, where everyone felt the need to congratulate Botan AGAIN.

"Class, please take you seats…" Mr. Nesul whispered. Unsurpirsingly to the newcomers now, he was obeyed without a problem. "Now, we're going to practice Madriva…"

Unexpectedly, the class started and ended without incident. Or at least, without SERIOUS incident. There was the occasional flying mouthpiece or reed, and the custom death threat, but nothing really out of the ordinary.

As they were leaving class, Mr. Nesul stopped them.

He turned to face them, opening his mouth to speak. It wasn't his voice heard though.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Yusuke yelled imidiately.

"The most common way out of trouble, yet it never works," Kurama mused quietly.

"It's safe to assume whatever it is was the oaf's fault."

"YOU GOT A DEATHWISH, SHRIMP?"

"I don't need one."

Mr. Nesul turned to Botan, seeing how she had been the only one to hold her tongue. "Do they do this often?" He asked, curious.

She nodded. "All the time. Annoys the other orphans." She next turned to the closest detective, Yusuke, and punched him off the top of his head. "We having a big boy conversation over here you might want to be part of!" She heaved.

The teacher nodded his apriciation for her handling the situation. All the focus was now on him. "I've been given notice that you are all failing your other classes. In fact," his brow furrowed over the report he was reading, "it doesn't look like you've even attended any of your other classes."

"…So?"

Mr. Nesul sighed. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you aren't passing all your classes with a C- or better, you can't be part of any school activities, including band."

No reaction.

"You'd best get to your next classes. I'll give you a pass…."

"Can you give us an hour?" Yusuke asked, surprisingly calm. "We'll have to run back to the orphanage for our backpacks."

Mr. Nesul nodded. "Of course."

A few minutes later….

"WHAT THE F#CK WERE YOU THINKING!" Yusuke now exploded to Koenma. Botan shuddered, regretting her decision to take them all here. It WAS Yusuke's idea, so now all the blame could be pinned on her, but still.

"I already GO to a school, in case you've forgotten! How am I supposed to be in two places at once!" Kurama said with barely controlled anger.

"I REFUSE to go to a HUMAN school!" Hiei added, threateningly.

"GOING TO BAND IS ONE THING, BUT GOING TO SCHOOL IS ANOTHER!" Kuwabara put in his two sence… make that one.

Koenma cowered behind his desk. "I… didn't realize…" he said softly, terrified.

Sadly, that wasn't enough for the enraged boys. "YOU'D BETTER FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF THIS!" Yusuke roared, grabbing Koenma by the front of his shirt.

"Th- there's nothing I can do!" The scared ruler stuttered. "I can't change the school rules! You'll, just have to put up with it!"

Glancing at a wall clock, Botan broke into the conversation. "This pass is only good for 15 more minutes," she cut in, looking at the colored piece of paper Mr. Nesul gave them.

Kurama sent a final steely glare at the toddler, a left over trait from Youko, before turning to leave. "Today, we will endure. But you'd best find a loophole. I cannot restrain Hiei for long." With that, he placed a hang on said fire demon's shoulder, indicating it was time to go. The demon duo turned and left without another word, waiting outside the office for Botan.

"Yeah! What he said!" Kuwabara said, also turning with a huffing Yusuke trailing behind him. Botan shrugged apologetically to her boss, before hurrying out herself.

"Each class is an hour and a half long," Kurama said, calm again now that they were inside the school preparing to go their separate ways. "We've all just wasted an hour, so that means we only need to get through half an hour of whatever we have next," he reasoned.

"We were all given schedules when we met Mr. Nesul," Botan added, remembering. "Let's see, I've got it somewhere…" she said absently, searching through her jeans pockets. "Ah ha! Here it is! I've got… algebra 1 now."

Kurama nodded, already holding his own sschedule. "My next class is health," he said.

Yusuke gagged. Seeing how calm the fox was, he obviously didn't know what they taught in health…. (FW: Sick, sick class…. They teach HUMAN REPRODUCTION!)

Having lost their schedules, or burned it, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were forced to go to the main office to find where they were supposed to be. Wishing them luck, the remaining two set off to find their rooms.

Botan found her room without a problem. She walked in waving to the class, bouncy as ever. "Decided to join as after all, Ms. Jaganshi? Very well, take a seat next to Mr. Resserd." Botan's smile was wiped off her face immediately. The seat her teacher had indicated was right next to Joane!

She sat down slowly, disappointed. "You're hot…."

This would be a loooong class….

Kurama had more trouble finding the health room, but he found it eventually. The students on either side of him were none other than Tac and Mia. Neither one was very interested in his sudden coming, just continued what they'd been doing.

For Mia, that was plotting world domination. For Tac, that was singing "This is the song that never ends" and like the title, she had no intension of stopping. Ever.

"You HAVE to have a last name!" The bat looking secretary said dully.

The other three detectives had been standing there for about 10 minutes. Yusuke and Kuwabara had gotten their schedules fine, but the secretary demanded Hiei's last name.

"I don't have one," the demon seethed again.

"I can't help you until you tell me," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "A lot of students go here. Without your last name, we could end up giving you someone else's schedule."

"Yeah, like there's another kid here named Hiei," Yusuke muttered, bored. He and Kuwabara could leave whenever they wanted, but then they'd have to go to class….

"Stupid human."

The two human boys glanced at each other, nodding. They'd be here for a while….

"This is the song that never ends… it just goes on and on my friends!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!" Mia finally snapped, and considering how… messed up she was, it was impressive she held her tongue so long.

It worked though, because Tac finally stopped singing. "I have friends!"

"Name one!"

"Uh… Kurama!" The fox's eyes widened.

"I don't even know you!" He protested, now wanting to get involved.

"Are you saying you don't like me?" She asked, sadly, tears brimming her dark eyes.

"No one likes you!" Mia made the situation worse.

"Well at least I'm not a mass murderer!" The other girl retaliated, sadness forgotten.

"Shut up you worthless… _trumpet_," Mia spat the word, making it into a horrible insult.

Kurama turned to Mia, taking offense too. "That was very uncalled for," he stated.

"Put a stopper in it, _trumpet_," Mia didn't know when to quit.

Tac stood up, hands balled into fists, ready to punch the darker haired girl. Kurama stood also, prepared to break up any fights. This turned out to not be such a good idea, for it got the attention of the rest of the class, which happened to have trumpeters and percussion members.

"Tac, Mia, Kurama, what's going on?" Flactem walked over, a good sight to Kurama. Now there was someone with higher band authority to break them up.

"Stay out of this, King Crap!" Mia said, making Flactem stop short of his destination in shock.

"You do NOT insult Flactem!" Tac roared, letting those fists fly.

The percussion, sensing one of their own in danger, immidiately went to help. In return, all of the trumpets, except Kurama, joined the fray. Before long, there was perfect mayhem, the trumpets fighting for their dignity, and the percussion fighting for their own.

Kurama backed up against the wall. There was no way he'd be able to stop them without using his powers, and he wasn't going to fight too. The teacher was screaming for them to stop, running around like a madman, and the non-band members just sat/stood were they were, watching.

Only non-band people and Kurama weren't involved. Everyone with an instrument, from clarinet to trombone, had chosen a side, and was fighting too, dividing everyone up.

Finally, the teacher pulled the fire alarm, and everyone in the entire school marched outside, effectively ending the battle through fear of fire.

The five detectives rejoined outside, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara already being together, seeing how they never went to their classes.

Kurama quickly explained what had happened, leaving worried looks on the faces of some of his friends. As always, Hiei didn't care, and Yusuke was carefree. "No one will remember in the morning," the top detective assured him.

It's amazing how wrong he was.

Flactem and Mia, coming from different directions, took hold of their section members' arm, and dragged them away from their friends and each other.

"What's the big idea?" Yusuke demanded, heated.

"The "big idea" is that you're a percussion! If you haven't heard yet, you can be forgiven, but from now on, no contact with trumpets, or whoever their allies are outside of band," she ordered.

"This is stupid!" He yelled at her.

Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe, but this is war now! From here on out, you're with us, or against us." She led him away to stand with the other percussion, who welcomed him with open arms.

In the meantime, similar events were taking place with Flactem and Kurama, though less hostile. He too was now standing with fellow section members.

He glanced at Tac, who had a bloody lip, but looked very proud of herself for defending what she believed in. He glanced skyward next, "Now what?" He asked himself silently.

END CHAPTER 10 

FW: Can't… write… anymore! (fingers bleeding)

Sola: (cracks whip) Deal with it.

FW: I'll write this after-chapter thing, BUT THAT'S IT!

Sola: Fine, but face my wrath after.

FW: Ok, this isn't really very funny anymore, but remember, it IS general category ahead of humor.

Hiei: What do you mean "funny anymore"? It was never funny to begin with.

FW: And that section leader voting thing, was for this. I needed a section leader to start the war. In case you didn't guess, it was Mia.

Mia: (flashing the victory sign)

FW: So review if it floats your boat, don't if it sinks ya, and if you think this chapter bites, by all means, flame! I'll take it in stride!


	11. War! What is it Good for?

FW: (has a HUGE cast on her right hand, the one that was cut up) ………

Yusuke: All that over a tiny cut?

FW: It is NOT tiny!

Hiei: I can expand it for you….

Kurama: No you can't. (referring to how FW can't be hurt in her "territory", which is where she writes)

Hiei: Hn.

FW: And I seriously don't need another distraction! Midterms are coming up, AND ALGEBRA MAKES NO SENCE!

Kuwabara: Midterms! Noooooooooooooooo!

Botan: Relax. There hers, not yours.

Kuwabara: Phew! What a relief.

FW: And now a note to a reviewer: sillylittlenothing-san, I feel so bad for you! I base a lot of this off my band, and we all really do stick up for each other! I've seen 200 band kids stick up for a freshman they'd known less than two weeks against a teacher! Teach had no idea what he was in for….

Kurama: All the band students happened to be in the same place at the same time?

FW: Yeah… I've got a weird school. And to answer another question: I'm not going to have any real romance between characters. Tsoy will be an exception to the yoai rule, but he won't be hitting on any Yu Yu character.

Yusuke: Good to know.

Kurama: I agree. After Karasu, I think I've had enough!

FW: And there won't be any romance between an oc and Yu Yu. They "stay with their own species", so to speak. Well, except Joane, and I've got my own plans for him….

Botan: Oh dear.

FW: So now, without further ado!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, or that War song from the chapter name.

START 

"You need to stop this foolishness now!" Mr. Nesul cried. It was the next day, and word of the "band war" had traveled quickly. There were two sides to the war, all the brass sections on one, and basically everything else on the other.

"We're not going to get anywhere if we battle each other!" Mr. Nesul added to the assembled band during his class. "We won't even survive the next round. We need to trust each other, be a true band! We need to end this now, before it gets out of hand."

In response, a trombone blew a spitball.

Mr. Nesul sighed. This wasn't going to end quickly.

Kuwabara looked to his left, seeing how his section was on theright side of the room, or was now. Once the war had begun, all brass players had claimed the right side of the square shaped classroom. On his left, he could easily cut the band in half, as it already was. All the other sections stayed clear of them, making a visible line down the center.

"When this class is over, I'm gonna get a sandwich," he thought, not paying attention at all, and, as usual, distracted by his stomach.

Mia sat in a red chair, arms folded and glaring. Having been one of the two to start the war, she was the leader of her side. Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she thought over her battle plans. Then realized she didn't have any. A large sweatdrop appeared on her head. "Well, there'll be time later," she reasoned inside her head, "and if all else fails, I can always kidnap one of them." Satisfied with her thoughts, she leaned back, and glared even more heatedly.

As for the other general, it was the other person who started the war, Tac. Like Mia, she had no clue what to do next, but unlike Mia, she had a powerful influence. Sitting next to her, was none other than Flactem. Such an important section leader would normally not even be allowed by the rest of his section to sit next to a lowly freshman, but the times had changed. He was her "advisor", but everyone knew he'd be pulling most strings.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He knew Mia was dangerous, and had no intention of surrendering. Butif HE tried to end it, she would put horrible limits on all of the brass, which he wasn't going to let happen. His only plan for action, was to keep everyone from "doing anything stupid" and wait for things to die down.

By this time, Mr. Nesul had given up trying to create peace, and simply decided to start the practice. The percussion in the very back of the room picked up their sticks and mallets, all the wind and brass players lifted their instruments. Well, except one baritone, who wasn't paying attention. Being the section directly in front of the percussion, who alone couldn't move to a side forthe war, being so huge, he could easily hear them snicker.

The same young baritone player accidentally squeaked loudly during his rest, making the rest of the baritones think it was there turn to play, and so they did.

A junior bass drummer walked forward slightly, and banged the mallets on each of their heads.

"Misky!" Mr. Nesul yelled, rage and shock taking over.

"Sorry, thought they were drums…." The drummer, Misky, muttered innocently.

"Oh come on! Even YOU'RE not that stupid!" A sousaphone countered.

"Are you saying we're dumb!" A snare player stood up, taking immediate offense.

"Well I guess it's not your fault," Tac stood now, against Flactem's wishes, "all drummers are stupid."

"THAT'S IT!" Mia screeched, her voice horribly high, "YOU KNOW THIS MEANS WAR!"

"It's BEEN war," Yusuke whispered in her ear.

"Whose side are you on?"

"The side that wins."

"Good. Ours."

"Uh… so are we gonna fight or what?" Tac asked, familiar feelings of confusion coursing through her veins.

"No one is going to fight!" The teacher said, knowing full well he couldn't stop them.

"Yeah. Yeah we are," the percussion leader said slowly, grabbing her mallets as a weapon. Then… she charged! Straight for the nearest target, the baritones.

Not wanting to hurt their precious instruments, they retaliated with their instrument CASES, which was a lot bigger and more painful that two mallets.

Kurama had the feeling of da sha vou then, remembering far to well the brawl yesterday, but this time, there was no way for him to back out. A clarinet sophomore came for him, and though he kept his style strictly on defense to keep the other boy injured, he knew that there would be some casualties on both sides.

Yusuke was also battling a clarinetist, the one who he'd stolen the instrument from on his first day of school, as luck would have it. "You're going to pay for taking Clari!" He yelled, as the detective easily blocked a wild punch.

Yusuke wasn't impressed. "You named your clarinet?" He asked, an eyebrow raised as he dodged a poorly aimed kick.

The boy turned a bright crimson, "What of it?"

"…I think it's best if I knocked some sense back into you…."

Kuwabara, not really knowing what was going on, having not paid attention, attacked a small band kid, thinking it would be an easy win. How tough could a midget be? Had he been looking closer, he may have realized he didn't just pick a small kid, but the smallest.

The "midget", Hiei, sensing a giant fist come slamming down at him, turned and caught the offensive object in one hand. Narrowing his eyes into a steelier glare, he asked slowly, "What do you think you're doing?"

Kuwabara laughed nervously, wanting to keep his hand, "Well, you were closest, and I wasn't thinking-"

"I believe that."

"Do you want me to beat you up on purpose?" Kuwabara roared.

Hiei rolled his eyes, but noticed a bells player behind the oaf, a mallet on it's way toward the oblivious human's skull.

Without thinking, Hiei released his former victim, and caught the mallet before it could do damage. Squeezing, he broke it in half.

Kuwabara looked back at his would be attacker, then back at Hiei. "You… saved me?"

Hiei turned and left to find another opponent without commenting.

Botan was locked in combat with a senior girl trumpet, and losing. Her instrument case was much smaller, and she could only just parry the attacks before they reached her. "I knew I should have brought my baseball bat…" she groaned mentally.

The slight distraction her thoughts brought her turned out to be dangerous. The trumpeter knocked her case out of her hands, and lifted the case to give another blow.

The ferry girl closed her eyes, preparing for the attack that never came.

She opened her eyes to find Joane blocking for her with one arm, taking the hit without a second thought. He then took a fighter's stance, indicating that if the other girl didn't leave now, he WOULD fight her.

The brass player took the hint and hurried off.

Botan looked to her savior, "Thank you," she said, not sure what else to say, "I, I don't know how to repay you…."

"I do," Joane said, looking back at her.

"Oh?" Botan asked, not knowing where he was taking this.

"Go on a date with me." She sweatdropped.

As for Mia and Tac? Tac had been avoiding contact with everyone, looking for the other general. She DESPERATELY wanted a rematch. But Mia was nowhere to be found.

Mr. Nesul, using a megaphone usually reserved for outside practice, now used it to stop the mayhem. "ANYONE CAUGHT FIGHTING FROM THIS POINT ON HAS A DETENTION!" He yelled. All ruckus stopped.

"Go back to your seats," he ordered. Everyone grudgingly did so.

"He never threatens," Kuwabara heard a saxophone player murmur worriedly. He looked at the speaker, expecting to see Tsoy, and surprised when not only was Tsoy not saying anything, but he wasn't even in sight!

Mr. Nesul calmed down, "Sorry. Can we practice again?" He lifted his arms to conduct, but stopped short when he noticed Mia not with her section, or even in the room.

"Where's Tsoy?" Kuwabara could be heard asking.

It slowly sunk in. Mia was gone. And she'd taken Tsoy with her.

END 

FW: So it continues. Sorry if Hiei's a little out of character, but I think he'd save Kuwabara's life if it came down to it.

Hiei: No.

FW: ...And soa new DARKER part of the story's coming up, focusing on Mia, Tsoy, and Joane. In that order. I think.

Kuwabara: Mia kidnapped Tsoy? We have to get him back!

Yusuke: What? He's just a sax.

Botan: Yusuke you jerk!

Kuwabara: I can't believe I'm saying this… but hurry up with the next chapter so we can save him!

FW: Heh heh…

Kurama: Planning something evil?

FW: Nope. No idea what I'm gonna do now!

All the Yu Yu gang: (sweatdrop)

FW: So, my trademark message. If you want to review, ok, if not, fine too. And if ya wanna flame, make my day! I'll take it in stride!


	12. Loose Ends

FW: GUESS WHAT!

Hi You've decided you're a horrible writer and you're going to stop.

FW: No… today is April 7th!

Botan: So?

FW: Today… I'VE GOT MY DRIVER'S PERMIT!

All the Yu Yu characters: OO

Kurama: Dear lord…

Koenma: You called?

FW: Right… so after this, I'm going out to terrorize mailboxes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

Section leader guide: Tsoy- saxophone; Mia- percussion; Flactem- trumpet; Joane- flute; Rackly- sousaphone

START 

"We've got to find them!" Someone yelled.

"Where could she have gone so fast?" Another called back.

"If he's hurt…."

The band room had been filled with noise, not from instruments, but angry and worried voices. Mr. Nesul hadn't tried to stop them, being too shocked himself. To think, one of his own band students, and a section leader at that, would kidnap someone….

Understandably, Kuwabara was a little more than just mad. He was ticked. And when he got ticked, he usually did something stupid.

Then again, since when was he smart when he was happy? Or smart at all? But that's all beside the point….

Fuming, he stomped to the back of the classroom, aiming for what was left of the percussion section. Most of them were just as surprised as their teacher at the lengths their dark haired general was willing to go.

The saxophone freshman reached his goal easily, and grabbed the nearest male percussionist, a bells player. "Where are they," he snarled.

Luckily for him, the sound in the room had reached a new height, so no one could pick apart his threatening voice from anyone else's.

"I don't know!" The scared sophomore in his grasp answered shakily.

When Kuwabara refused to let go, other percussionists hurried over, prying his giant hands off their friend's shirt front. "Tsoy had better be alive and ok!" He yelled, banging his hand on the sheet holding part of a music stand. Instantly, the collapsible part fell backward, and having put all his weight on it, the moron soon followed, tumbling to the floor on top of the metal. "…And I SO meant to do that!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes, having stayed put when his fellow section members rushed to help. He hadn't wanted to hurt his friend…. It finally sunk in there. He and Botan were on opposite sidesof Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei. If it came down to it… what would he do? Shaking his head, the teenager just decided the war would be over long before that happened.

Meanwhile, in the janitor's closet….

"The janitor's closet?" Tsoy whispered, unimpressed. He might have said it louder, in hopes of someone hearing him, had his wrists and ankles been tied tightly together, and the gleaming pocket knife in Mia's hand didn't look too friendly.

She narrowed her eyes. "See you come up with something better," she huffed.

Tsoy closed his mouth there. She didn't seem to be in a great mood, and he wasn't willing to make it worse.

His captor, sensing he was done fighting, sat with her back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest.She didn't like how things had played out.She closed her dark eyes, willing her courage to return to her. Unlike most times, it didn't.

This wasn't the first time something had happened she didn't want to. Not the fist time SHE had done something she didn't want to. The senior concentrated, trying to make sense of herself. No, not herself, she mused. She wouldn't have taken it so far, almost as far as last time, four years ago-

Her train of thought stopped short. She didn't want to remember.

"Mia?" The brass section leader beside her asked. He'd seen herupset expression,and was worried about her. It was just in his personality, to be more caring than most men. "You look pale…."

"Observant. Yeah, you're definitely gay," she joked, but their was no humor in her voice. Nothing but pain of memories that shouldn't have been made.

Mr. Nesul told the office what happened immediately, and though they searched, no trace of the missing teenagers was found. During this time, the band students were increasingly restless, and fearing things may again become violent, Mr. Nesul was forced to have them all dismissed.

Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei set off for the fox's house, while Botan and Yusuke both headed to the main detective's. Both groups were going to talk and relax as well as they could, ignoring the fact that non-band students were still trapped in their classes.

Once at the designated house, Botan immediately started talking, which was customary. "This is going to make the mission a lot harder," she grumbled.

"Mission?" Yusuke asked, his mind, as usual, a total blank.

"Yes, the mission!" She said, angry at his short attention span. "We're supposed to be gathering information about that weird band teacher!"

"Mr. Nesul?"

"NO! That other one! The one with theunknown energy, remember?"

That seemed to click, because Yusuke's eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh right! That freaky guy with the stupid energy!"

She rolled his eyes at his choice of words, "That's the one…."

"YUSUKE! DINNER'S READY!" His mom could be heard yelling, syllables slurred from drinking again.

"Be therein a minute!" Her son yelled back. "You'd better go," he said more quietly to his female friend.

She nodded. "I have a date with Joane soon anyway," she said, hopping onto her materialized oar.

Before he could ask, she was out the open window, and his mother was calling up to him again.

"It's getting cold!"

"What is it?"

"Sandwiches!"

Botan flew only a few feet away from his house, before landing and getting rid of the oar. She walked down the street absently. "So now I have to go on a date with Joane Resserd," she muttered, remembering his last name from algebra class. She hadn't realized she was speaking out loud.

"Joane Resserd?" An elderly man who happened to be walking by stopped and asked.

She turned, a little surprised that someone knew his name, "Yes," she stumbled on the words a bit, "I have a date with him tonight."

The old man looked at her blankly. "The only person I ever knew with that name, died four years ago."

At 4:30, Mia untied Tsoy, and opened the janitor's closet. She would have released him much sooner, if there wasn't the chance that someone would walk by and catch her. Now that school was over, things were a lot less dangerous.

"Remember," she turned back with a cold look, "no telling ANYONE what happened here."

"Don't worry," the brass player said. "I'll just say I, forgot to sign out for the bathroom, or something." He flashed a smile her way that she didn't return. They WERE enemies, after all.

Sheturned and made her would be dramatic exit, if she hadn't slipped on some pink ice cream and fallen.

Tsoy ran over to help, grabbing her arm to bring her to her feet. The second he touched her, his skin went cold. He managed to help her up without hesitating, but he knew then that something was wrong.

"Thanks," she muttered unappreciatively, and left without another word.

Botan, after hearing those words, had ran off to the nearest records hall, begging to see Joane Resserd's file, but had been denied. "Please! It's important!" She tried vainly to reason with the man.

"I'm sorry, but those files are classified information."

A womanentered the building then, and quickly struck up a conversation with the unbending man. Sensing her only chance, she quickly reached out and grabbed the key sitting unwisely unguarded on the desk. He didn't notice.

Pretending to be disappointed, Botan headed for the door, before changing her direction and walking innocently to the locked door.

"Just keep talking," she thought to herself as she fitted the key in the door. Bracing herself, she quickly opened it and slipped inside, noiselessly shutting it after her.

She glanced around at all the file cabinets. "This is going to take a while…" she muttered, looking for a place to start.

"YOU THERE!" A voice bellowed.

Her breath caught. She'd been discovered!

Meanwhile, Kuwabara had his own mystery to solve.

"WHY DID YOU SAVE ME SHRIMP?  
"Hn."

"NOW I'VE GOT TO LIVE KNOWING I OWE YOU!"

"Hn."

"Kuwabara, Hiei, please stop. You'll make my mother suspicious."

END CHAPTER 12 

FW: Yeah, I know. Mia had most of this chapter dedicated to her, but this is NOT a mary-sue! She's only important right now because she ties in to the storyline! Think of her as when Yu Yu Hakusho would focus on Sensui, even though he's not a "main character", really. Ok, so maybe he was, but hey! Point is, THIS ISN'T GOING TO BE A MARY-SUE!

Botan: Done?

FW: (deep breath) I think so. Oh, and another note, all the section leaders are basically good. No evil ones, trying to take over the world.

Mia: (plotting how to take over the world)

FW: Well, she's not, er… who am I kidding? Mia's evil! But not in a… bad way? Does that make sense?

All the Yu Yu characters: No.

FW: Well, maybe it will later. So with my ending note: Review if you choose, if not you don't lose. Hey! I made a poem!

Hiei: You deserve to be flamed for that.

FW: OK! I'll take it in stride!

Yusuke: AmnarRanma's right. She IS too happy about flames….


	13. Complications

FW: (typing WICKED fast)

Yusuke: Trying out for Guinness World Records on typing?

FW: No, stupid. I've got a MAJOR project I need to be doing, and a stupid school dance my friends are dragging me too, so I've got no time!

Botan: Than don't update today.

FW: No way. I'll update every other day at least unless I notify readers first. That's a guarantee! Unless I get hit by a car or something….

Kurama: What kind of fool would get themselves hit by a car?

Hiei: The king of them.

Yusuke: HEY!

FW: I don't have time for this….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Guinness Book of World Records

START 

Botan froze. She could hear footsteps hurrying her way, but she couldn't bring her body to move, even to run. A hand appeared on her shoulder, forcibly turning her around to meet her finder. Judging by the broom in his charcoal colored hand, he was a janitor.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded right away.

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but found her mind a total blank. But between the truth of breaking in and illegally reading documents or saying nothing, she easily chose the latter.

"A mute, eh?" He jumped to conclusions.

Taking this opportunity, she nodded vigorously. "But you're still not supposed to be here," he said, glaring.

Luckily, with this added time, Botan had found an escape. She placed her right hand behind her back, and quickly formed her oar out of thin air. Swinging her right arm with all her strength, she whacked the janitor across the face. He went tumbling to the floor in a shocked yelp of pain, out cold.

"Hmph," she grunted. "And people think girls can't fight!"

The blue haired girl slowly got back on subject, glancing around at all the file cabinets. "This could take longer than I'd hoped…."

By this time, it was nearing darkness outside. "See ya tomorrow Kurama," Kuwabara respectfully said goodbye.

"Yes, until then," the redhead formally said back. "Hiei, don't you have anything to say?" He then turned to his smaller friend.

"Yes," the darkest said, turning to Kuwabara. "Rot in he#l."

"YOU LITTLE-"

Whatever the oaf was going to say next was lost. Hiei whipped around and jumped out the open window, falling from sight.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled, wide-eyed and running to the window.

"Who would have thought the shrimp was suicidal," the other detective muttered, joining his comrade near the wall.

Hiei, despite Kuwabara's belief, was fine, standing on a tree branch, jagan uncovered and searching the area.

"What is it?" Kurama asked, not noticing anything unusual.

"Someone was here," came the curt answer, the one who gave it now staring fixedly at seemingly nothing.

"A demon?" Kurama asked, concerned.

"Come on guys," the largest of the three moaned. "Me and Kurama didn't sense anything. It was probably just a bird."

"No," Hiei muttered, leaning over the side of the branch to where he was staring. His hand came back in a fist. He unclenched it, letting them all see what he held. It was a small piece of denim cloth.

Kurama took it into his own hands and smelled, searching for a scent. He gagged, and Kuwabara quickly moved to steady him, as he almost fell backward.

"Fox?" Hiei asked, concern ALMOST being heard.

The fox didn't answer for a moment, and when he finally did, he only choked out one word, "Rackly," before blacking out.

Gently, Kuwabara placed the still form leaning against him on the bed, before turning to Hiei, who had reentered the room, and looked ready to kill.

"Let's go," Kuwabara murmured, and started out the room door. He didn't need to glance back to know Hiei was following.

Bored as usual, Yusuke set out for a night on the town, walking along one of the more shady streets. It was dangerous to walk this road alone, especially at dusk, but he wasn't worried. "Why should I be," he asked himself, grinning. "I'm Yusuke Urameshi!" He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice Flactem. Almost.

Of course he wondered why the section leader was in this part of town, but was answered almost immediately. There were four high schoolers, not ones that Yusuke recognized, leading him away. "Blackmail," he muttered, moving into a more shadowed area to keep from being seen. "Busting this up should be fun," he grinned.

"Oh yeah, might want to save Flactem too…."

With that thought, he charged. It was a one-sided fight. The four kids, from other schools, he realized, weren't in his league. He was only caught off guard once, by one trying to knife him, but a giant right hand from Flactem was enough to send the teenager flying.

Once they were on the ground, the senior turned to the leader of their little gang, and placed a massive foot on his back, slowly shifting his weight to that foot. It was a LOT of weight he shifted.

Finally satisfied, the two set off. "You don't look like the type to let people push you around, if they even could," Yusuke struck a conversation. "What was that back there?"

The overweight trumpet player shook his head. "They threatened to "finish Rackly off" if I didn't come with them. Don't know what they were talking about, so I figured I'd find out. But then you came along, so I figured I'd help you out," he said, thinking matters over.

"Don't tell me you're mad I saved you!" The detective exploded, misunderstanding.

"I would have been fine," he said, brushing off the boy's help.

"They had a frickin' knife!"

Flactem shrugged. "All they would have gotten is fat," he said, and Yusuke found himself agreeing.

As for Botan, she had finally found the files for Joane Resserd. Sitting on a crate, she opened the folder, and almost dropped it in shock. The was a picture of a 13 year old GIRL inside.

Botan quickly got up and searched for another Joane Resserd, but found that there was only one file, for this female. Deciding she had nothing better to do, she sat down again and began to read it.

Her eyes moved side to side as she skimmed the file, taking in more important information. Her life seemed perfectly normal, but then during her freshman year, four years ago,she and her parents were murdered in their house. The killer was never found.

Botan's eyebrows furrowed. She could tell she was missing something important. She read through again and discovered what it was. She had gone to Rekat high school, been in the band, and played flute.

She turned back to the front of the file and looked at the picture. Gleaming dark brown hair, bright green eyes, full of life. Botan found herself pitying the girl. "All these things," she muttered, "school, instrument, even the name, they're all the same as Joane," she said, thinking.

"Coisindence? No, it's too much," with that, she copied the address of her house, returned the file, stepped over the janitor, and left, acting perfectly innocent.

She considered it more outside, "He must have changed his. But why would he take on a dead girl's name...?"

Hiei and Kuwabara ran side by side, the demon settling for a slow pace so the human could keep up. They'd been using the jagan, trying to find any traces of Rackly, but somehow unable. "Maybe it's broken," Kuwabara gasped out, even the slower pace hard on his weaker body.

"No, fool, it's not broken," Hiei said, annoyed. NO ONE did that to Kurama and got away with it.

They ran almost literally into Yusuke and Flactem.

"Where's the fire?" Yusuke asked, nonchalant.

"We're looking for Rackly," Kuwabara relayed the information.

"Rackly?" Flactem asked, thinking of the four who had dragged him away not long ago.

In an instant, Hiei was in front of the human. "What do you know," he demanded.

Flactem wasn't fazed. Gently, he pushed Hiei a little farther away. "Some other high school kids mentioned something about finishing him off," he answered. "Why?"

Hiei and Kuwabara glanced at each other.

"Lead us there," it wasn't a suggestion by the fire demon.

Deciding now wasn't the time to argue, the fat senior turned and started backtracking.

"Can someone PLEASE clue me in?" Yusuke yelled, watching everyone leave, ignoring him. Grumbling, he hurried to catch up.

Botan, in the meantime, found herself standing in front of an abandoned, old, haunted house looking shack. "This must be the place," she said, glancing at the slip of paper she'd written the address on. Gathering her courage, she walked the broken brick pathway to the door.

She put her hand on the doorknob, but couldn't bring herself to turn it, "I can't go in there!" She cried, taking her hand away. "Oooooh, this isn't fair! I'm a ferry girl, and assistant! Not a detective!" She looked skyward, "Oh Koenma, what were you thinking assigning me this…?"

Shegasped as she suddenly felt enormous energy, whether demonic or human, she wasn't willing to find out! She opened the door and rushed inside, preferring the fears inside than the obvious danger outside.

The first thing she noticed was blood, and lots of it. Her stomach churned. "I guess no one bothered to clean up after the murder," she said, disgusted.

"Who's there?" A voice called out from another room. Her eyes widened, recognizing it.

She turned to where the voice came from, just as Joane entered the room.

END CHAPTER 12 

FW: There, now I have the rest of the day for project.

Kuwabara: (hugging a teddy bear) This is getting scary!

FW: Really? Cool!

Kurama: …Why have I blacked out?

FW: Still working that out…. I'll know by next chapter! So now, if you want to review, cool beans, if not, fine by me! And if you wanna flame, go ahead! I'll take it in stride!


	14. Memories

FW: Hi….

Yusuke: No tire tracks on her back….

FW: What?

Kurama: You said you'd update every other day, unless hit by a bus, so we assumed….

FW: Ok, ok, so I didn't get hit by a bus. My friend had SERIOUS mental problems, and, well… I swore not to say anything more.

Hiei: Nice excuse.

FW: Hey! It's true!

FW: To clear up a little confusion for AmnarRanma-sama, Botan isn't the only ferry girl, so someone else would have/did take Joane to Spirit World! Nice cover up, I think. Truth is, I never thought of that… but this works too, right…?

Botan: (nods) But I think we all agree that I'm the best ferry girl!

FW: Well, like most things I say, that's not important. What is, is I'm back, AND WRITING!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

Joane and Botan stared at each other, neither one knowing how to break the silence. Botan, not knowing what else to do, slowly backed up to the wall, for each step she retreated, the boy taking two toward her.

"Get away from me…" She said, trying to sound threatening, but failing horribly. Her right hand quickly moved behind her back, ready to bring forth the oar.

She never got a chance to.

With reflexes she wouldn't have thought a human could have, he grabbed both her hands in his own, gazing into her eyes. If she wasn't uncomfortable then, she definitely was now! "Let go of me!" She yelped, fighting him, "you murderer!"

"Murderer?" He asked, eyes genuinely confused.

She didn't buy it. "You killed the real Joane Resserd, her family, and took over her life!" She yelled, having pieced it all together.

His eyes widened, and he gripped her hands tighter. "Don't ever say that," he muttered, the firm grip hurting her. "I never killed anyone."

"What?"

Joane closed his eyes, before bending down on one knee. "I've loved you since the first day I met you," he said, opening his big eyes to look at her.

Botan sweatdropped. "This is hardly the time…" She thought, having a good idea where he was going with this.

"This isn't easy for me to say," he continued, ignorant of her annoyance.

She closed her eyes, knowing what he was going to say.

"I wasn't always a man."

In the meantime, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Flactem had reached the site where the trumpet section leader had been taken. As far as the normal eye could see, there was nothing there.

But that was to the NORMAL eye, not the jagan eye.

While the other two detectives kept Flactem busy looking at some "disfigured moss", Hiei ripped off the bandana and got to work. At first, there was nothing unusual, but on further investigation, he found a slight trace of familiar energy.

His eyes narrowed as he sought to identify it. He realized fast enough, it had the same trace as the piece of cloth that had knocked out Kurama! Trying harder, he tried to tell if it was demonic or human, normally an easy task, but this time, it appeared to be… both.

"It's only moss boys…" Hiei could hear Flactem making his way back, and quickly covered his third eye.

"I don't know, it was like, a weird color!"

"It was green. Like all moss."

Hiei turned to face them, shaking his head. The trumpeter bought it, but as he was hoping, the other two didn't.

Yusuke turned to the "oldest", saying, "Well, it doesn't look like we're going to find much here. Maybe we can just talk to Rackly tomorrow."

The fat boy raised an eyebrow. "You were all so intent on seeing him, what, you got somewhere else to be, or something?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke froze, which didn't surprise Hiei. So it was up to him to think of something. "I've got a date," he muttered, REALLY hating himself for saying it, but knowing it would work.

Flactem grinned broadly, "Don't forget to use protection!" He laughed, turning and walking away.

Judging by the indifferent look on the fire demon's face, he didn't get the joke.

Sadly, his coworkers did, and he had to threaten both their lives to make them stop laughing.

They walked a block before deciding it was safe to talk. "So, what did you pick up?" The head detective asked right away.

"It has the same energy." He said simply.

"Same as in what ko'd Kurama?" Kuwabara asked, forgetting that Yusuke hadn't been filled in.

"Wait wait wait! What's happened to Kurama?" Yusuke demanded, worried.

"If I knew, do you really think I would have left him there to go on a useless chase?" Hiei said, humorless.

"No… I guess not…."

"Chill out Urameshi," Kuwabara said, slapping his friend on the back, "he's not an easy guy to take down, I'm sure he's fine now!"

Wrong as usual.

"Who are you?"

"Nnn, Kurama," Kurama muttered, answering the question without care or worry about who was asking.

"Why are you in the band?"  
"Koenma, he told me to…"

"And Koenma, he's nothing but a child you baby-sit with your friends. You don't need to take orders from him."

"Yes, just a child," somewhere in the back of his mind, something warned the redhead that this was wrong, that something was amiss, but it was soon wiped away, and more.

He woke up then. "What? I have homework," he said groggily, getting out his school supplies and getting to work.

During this time, Botan was staring blankly at Joane, who looked back at her. "I'm sorry… what?" She asked, confused.

Joane sighed. "I used to be a girl," He repeated.

"You… are a CROSSDRESSER!" She yelled, disturbed.

"No, I had plastic surgery done!" He explained.

Here, she ripped her hands away from him. "Why, would you DO something like that!" She cried, even more freaked out.

"Because, my family was dead, and I was next."

She stopped fighting, stopped even being angry. She understood now, for real. HE was that little girl she'd researched. HIS family had been killed, and to escape, he faked death and changed his whole identity. "But wouldn't someone from band recognize you? Mr. Nesul? Same name, same instrument, it's a little suspicious…." She noted.

"I thought so too," Joane muttered, standing now, looking down at her from the height difference. "But no one remembers me as a girl. I asked Mr. Nesul once if he ever knew someone else named Joane, and he didn't."

Botan's eyes narrowed. That didn't make sense… but she decided to look into it later. "Did you… see them die?" She asked quietly, referring to his parents. She knew it wasn't relevant to the case, and it wasn't fair to ask, but she'd come to respect Joane, if nothing else, and she had to know.

He nodded, a single tear falling from his closed eyes.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei arrived at the Minamino residence. Yusuke refused to go back home until he knew that Kurama was ok by his own eyes.

Kuwabara had tried to convince him to leave, claiming that if anything was wrong, they'd call, and they didn't want to be caught as opposite sides of the war associating. Flactem was cool about them hanging out, but only because it's in his nature. Should Mia have noticed though….

"Screw the war!" Yusuke had yelled, and no one protested after.

Once at the house, Kuwabara led to the fox's room, opening the door, to find Kurama, perfectly fine, doing homework.

"Kurama, you're ok!" Yusuke grinned, relieved, all three piling into the room.

"Yes, I don't see why I wouldn't be," the redhead puzzled, looking at them each in turn. "You should have called before you came, it's only polite," he mused. "Though I suppose you're not much for customs," he added.

Hiei allowed himself a small smirk, glad to see him back to normal. "Fox," he greeted.

"Fox?" Kurama asked, confused.

"Yeah, Fox. It's what Hiei calls you," Kuwabara said, noticing the unusual confused tone. "'Cause of your Youko side, ya know?"

"No, I don't," he answered, truthfully.

Yusuke was growing worried again. He ran over, and grabbed Kurama by the shoulders immpulsively, and harshly, "Snap out of it!" He yelled, "of course you know your Youko side!"

Kurama flinched, in pain, but unsure how to get out of it, "Yusuke…" he murmured, hoping he'd get the drift and let go.

Hiei and Kuwabara hurried over. "Stop it Urameshi, you're gonna hurt him!" Kuwabara yelled, grabbing his friend's arm.

"If he wanted to, he could break out," Yusuke gritted his teeth, still shaking his friend.

Kurama, out of sheer fear, blacked out again.

The three looked at the unconscious body. "What? I didn't mean to…." Yusuke stammered.

"Fool. You didn't hurt him, he fainted, from FEAR," Hiei gritted out, staring angrily at the fox.

"What, he was scared of ME, after all he's seen, and DONE?" Yusuke asked, not knowing whether that could POSSIBLY be true.

"He doesn't remember," Hiei muttered. "Hismemory's been blocked."

END 

FW: There we go. Off to do a project, so I'll finish up quick. Review if you want, don't if you don't, and if you wanna flame, ok! I'll take it in stride!


	15. If You Thought PLAYING Was Bad

FW: Stupid throat. Stupid nose. I always DID hate my nose…. (continues ranting on)

Yusuke: In other words: she's sick.

Kuwabara: She's always been sick.

Yusuke: Yeah, but this time, sick in the BODY not just the head!

Kuwabara: Oh….

FW: And now to answer a review: sillylittlenothing-sama, you guessed my next thingie before I wrote it! Well, sort of. Er, you'll see what I mean in a minute. (sneezes)

Hiei: (hands her the box of tissues)

FW: Thanks… Though I never would have guessed you'd care!

Hiei: I don't. You just look disgusting when you sneeze.

FW: Don't know why, but that reminds me, Ouatic-7-sama, I DON'T hate Kuwabara, I like him a lot! I wrote what you're upset about because that's how he acted right before his fight with Elder Toguro. Don't take it seriously.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

Yusuke and Kuwabara gaped at the angry demon. "His memory's been blocked?" Yusuke repeated his words. "What the heck does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," he answered moodily, picking up his knocked out friend, and dumping him on the bed.

"What does it sound like?" Kuwabara asked, surprise surprise, not following the conversation.

Hiei turned his death glare on the tallest, but answered anyway. "It means he can't access all his memories, and some have been… shifted."

Yusuke nodded, encouraging him to keep talking.

It was one of the rare moments that Hiei spoke a lot. "He knows us, but only as school friends. He doesn't know about his past, or our stupid missions." He closed his mouth, indicating that he was DONE.

The other two accepted it. "Hiei, if the problem's in his mind, can't you just go in there and melt some road blocks?" Yusuke asked, thinking about the jagan tricks the demon had learned.

"Hn," he looked at Kurama's still body. "I could. But his soul would shatter."

"What?" Kuwabara said, but the percussionist saw that Hiei was through explaining to "the idiot human", so he took over.

"Think about it. You're a perfect kid, then all of a sudden, you remember you're a thief, a murderer, been deceiving everyone you know, really a fox and demon, and anything else he's been hiding from us!"

Kuwabara finally got it, and his eyes clouded with pity. He glanced at the sleeping redhead, "I never even thought about how he got through all that stuff… maybe this is for the best, that he doesn't remember."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he could feel a hand tightening around his throat. Hiei's glare, if it was usually cold, right now it was freezing. "I suggest you take that back," he said acidly.

Kuwabara stumbled for breath, and when he found he could breathe, he spoke, "This is the best thing that could happen to him! Every day, he thinks about it, but now he can't! He's a normal kid now!" He yelled, defending his point.

Grudgingly, Hiei released him. Together, the three gazed at their friend. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kuwabara's right," Yusuke muttered.

"Hn…."

Yusuke turned away, forcing himself to say the hardest words he'd had to yet, "I'll tell Koenma he's off the team. Forever."

That said, he left his friend's house, and started for his own. He glanced at the sky, noting how dark it was. "…I'll tell him first thing tomorrow, that is."

The next day at school, the whole band was gathered for their every-morning practice.

By now, Mr. Nesul, deciding kids will be kids, had stopped even trying to end the war, but just wanted to get a decent class of practice in. "From the top…" he said slowly, starting to conduct.

Not much happened, and before they knew it, the block was over. "Oh, remember," Mr. Nesul announced to the teenagers who were gathering their things. "4-9, we have marching practice!"

"SIX HOURS?" Yusuke yelled, not thinking.

"Shut up, ya drum!" Someone, apparently a brass player called back, and a mouthpiece hit him square in the forehead.

"Forgot about that…" he muttered, feeling the red spot on his face, remembering the war.

So the rest of the day passed without problems….

"I'm NOT going!" Yusuke yelled, resisting with all his might as Kurama, Botan, and Kuwabara pulled with all their mortal might, not wanting to freak out Kurama. Yusuke was holding onto a tree, and really making them work.

"Ya know," Kuwabara huffed, out of breath, "you COULD help us!"

Hiei looked away, smirking. He was standing next to them, and hadn't done a think to help.

"Yusuke, we have FIVE minutes until band practice! We need to hurry!"The girlsaid, starting to get annoyed.

"Why do they want us back AFTER school? We do enough IN!" He reasoned back to her.

Kurama groaned. "If you don't come quietly, I won't help you with your homework."

Yusuke glared, knowing he was caught. "Darn C- or better rule…" he muttered, releasing his death-grip on the tree.

So the five managed to get to school only a minute late.

"Think they'll care?" The brain-damaged fox asked worriedly.

"Calm down, we're only a minute late. They probably didn't even notice!" Yusuke laughed at his friend's over concern.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

The last detective who spoke choked on his laugh. "Or not…."

A horribly obese man bounded over to them, fat jiggling disgustingly. "I didn't think it was possible…" Botan stared in disbelief. "He's fatter than Flactem!"

The gigantic man finally made it to them, beads of sweat already forming, though he barely ran a yard. "What are your names?" He demanded.

They quickly introduced themselves, and for once the receiver wasn't interested in last names. "And what are you supposed to be?" Hiei asked coolly back.

Ignoring the short boy's disrespect, he answered, "Mij, the drill instructor. Now, GET WITH YOUR SECTIONS!"

"Drill instructor, more like drill sargent," Kuwabara muttered as they did as they were told.

The band had formed itself into a giant square, what they were calling "block", by sections. They easily found a way to squeeze in, but no sooner had they done so was the whole thing moving! AND playing!

Kuwabara gulped, trying to keep up. He knew enough to mirror the other saxophones, and for a while, he did a decent job! Then, they started moving in different directions. He thought fast, deciding… BACKWARD! He walked into another saxophone, and they both fell over, where they were quickly trampled. (FW: True story there. NO ONE STOPS FOR YOU!)

Yusuke hadn't done something that bad, yet. But he had his own difficulties. Like the fact that he could barely play anything, and he didn't have the music memorized like everyone else. So while the rest of the snares played nice rhythms, he would randomly hit it every now and then, hoping no one would notice.

Botan, being very musically talented, was having an easy time marching! She was in step, and only faltered when she wasn't sure where the flutes where headed. Most of the time, she guessed right.

Kurama was doing decently. He stumbled a few times, but was lucky enough to be marching next to Flactem, who would subtly show him what to do. Tac herself was marching in front of him, and slowly. Whenever they moved forward, he would hit the back of the head his horn. Every time, she yelled around her mouthpiece "WHAT THE HEY!"

As for Hiei…. "MIDGET!" The director, Mij, yelled through a megaphone. He was sitting on the top of the bleachers overlooking the football field they marched on, eating a hamburger. "MARCH FASTER!"

Hiei's aura became visible. "I'll show him faster…" he muttered. In the blink of an eye, he was running up the bleacher seats, and standing next to Mij.

The enormous man blinked at the sudden appearance. Kurama gaped. "I… didn't know he could do that…." He said slowly, unbelieving.

The other band students were reacting too. The form (a star) was forgotten as everyone gathered to the base of the bleachers, wanting to see better.

Only the other four detectives didn't move. "Hiei and his temper," Yusuke muttered.

"Yes, very impulsive, isn't he," Botan added.

"And he calls ME an idiot?" Kuwabara fumed.

Kurama walked over to where they were gathered, "It's amazing how fast he is," he said to them.

Mij, meanwhile, had choked on his burger from shock, and was now trying to stay conscious.

"Hiei, do the hime-lick!" Someone yelled from below.

"Hime-lick?" (FW: can't spell it) Hiei wondered, reading someone's mind to find what it was. His expression turned blank. There was no WAY he'd do that… but looking at the human dying before him, he knew he had no choice.

He got behind him, grabbed him around the stomach, and almost threw up from all the fat molding around his arms. Ignoring it, he heaved upwards, and the nasty piece of food flew out of his mouth.

Unfortunately, he was looking up, so the food flew upwards… and landed on the fire demon's head.

"Someone is going to die today."

END CHAPTER 15

FW: I NEED A BREAK! If you review or don't, fine. If you flame, I'll take it in stride!


	16. Cry Me a River

FW: ….

Reader: (glares)

FW: Ok, ok. So I've screwed up my "guarantee"-

Kurama: Again.

FW: Yeah, again. Sorry! Time to change my policy, I guess. For the MOST PART, I'll update every other day, but sometimes, things come up.

Genkai: Slacker.

Yusuke: What?

Genkai: I wasn't talking to you!

Yusuke: Really? You gave my nickname to someone else?

FW: Oh joy. I'm the "new slacker"….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START  
"Come on Hiei, it's not THAT bad…." Kurama tried to reason with him as they got ready to continue practice.

"Hn." As far as he was concerned, which wasn't far, Kurama WAS still his best friend, even if he didn't remember why.

As for after the hime-lick (FW: Still can't spell) incident, Hiei had just narrowed his eyes, wiped off the nasty piece of food, and walked down the bleachers, leaving a stunned and angry Mij. Honestly, the spirit detectives were impressed that Hiei had held his temper and NOT just fried the human there!

So it led back to here. Back to practice. The students were allowed to keep their memories unshifted, as Hiei couldn't do 200 people in a few minutes.

The only thing that changed with this new event, was Mij was even more irritable. "Hurry up!" He called down to them, "we've got ALL night, and if you can't figure it out, we'll TAKE all night!"

"He can't do that, can he?" Kuwabara questioned, but like everyone else, he wasn't willing to find out.

They got back to their spaces, and the practice continued for several more long hours.

Finally, they all gathered at Kurama's house, what they had once thought of as their meeting place for the mission, now just a convenient place to talk and relax.

The practice had ended with few injuries, at least on their side, but all of them were exhausted.

"I can't keep this up until the end of the season!" Botan groaned, flinging herself onto the bed.

"You shouldn't complain!" Yusuke shot back, "at least you had a clue what you were doing!"

From here, it became almost a competition of who had the worst experience.

"Well I got trampled!" Kuwabara stated proudly, showing off his numerous bruises.

"A fat man spat in my face," Hiei said flatly, as custom for his voice.

"I marched behind Tac," Kurama said thoughtfully, realizing his session hadn't been too bad.

"You got to hit her a lot though!" Yusuke added. Noticing how Kurama looked shocked, "don't think I didn't notice!"

"I didn't mean to…."

"Hey, that's not a BAD thing!" Yusuke laughed, and his friends followed suit.

Botan sat up as she remembered she hadn't told the others about Joane yet. "Oh, um…" she stumbled, rembering Kurama no longer knew anything.

Luckily, the doorbell rang. Kurama smiled good naturedly and left to answer it. As soon as he was gone, she leaned closer to the others. "I have something to tell you," she whispered unnecessarily.

So they waited. And waited. "Spit it out!" Yusuke finally yelled, losing patience.

"JOANE'S A GIRL!"

"…What?"

"Well, he, er, she's, IT used to be a girl, but it got plastic surgery to become a man!" She explained quickly, using interesting word choice.

"Why do we care?" Hiei asked coldly.

"Yeah, aside from that being really creepy, does it matter at all?" Kuwabara rephrased his sentence.

Botan quickly nodded, sure that what happened to the flutist was important. "When "he" was a freshman, "his" family was murdered, in front of "him". "He" faked death, and changed everything about "his" appearance, but not "his" name, instrument, or high school," she quickly filled them in.

Yusuke caught something faster than the others. "Hold on, his name and high school are the same?"

"Yes, but for some reason, no one remembers anyone with the name "Joane Resserd"," the ferry girl said, knowing where his thoughts were headed.

Hiei realized now too. "Memory blocks," he assumed, noting that whoever had done this four years ago had the same tricks, demenstrating them on a certain fox earlier.

"But why wouldn't someone want anyone to remember…" Kuwabara asked the big question.

There was silence, as no one knew how to answer.

Kurama returned then, walking in the room when they weren't paying attention. Without realizing it, he still had all his abilities, including stealth.

"We have a problem…" he spoke up, and the focus turned to him.

And the body he held.

"JOANE!" Botan cried, hurrying over to his still form. "Is he…" She asked softly.

"No," the fox assured her gently. "He must have rang the doorbell, but passed out before I opened it," he reasoned.

"Seems there's always someone out cold in here," Kuwabara muttered, watching the redhead place him on the bed.

Yusuke walked closer, examining him, "Unlucky basta- he's bleeding!" He yelled, noticing the red liquid oozing through his shirt.

The boys hurried out to get various medical supplies. Botan had started to follow, but Hiei roughly shoved her back into the room.

"He'll have something to say," he said, letting her know that this wasn't disputable.

So now she was alone with him. For a while, nothing happened, and she was forced to just sit by his side, waiting for them to return. She took off his worn shirt for him, and to make the others' cleanup easier.

Upon relaxing, however, she noticed faint traces of demon energy on him. Her heart sped up as she leaned closer, trying to get a better reading on it, when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist painfully.

She yelped, and his eyes opened, bloodshot, staring dazedly at her. "Botan," he rasped.

"Yes?" She said, anxiously. True, she was nervous, and he reminded her of a zombie, but if he would tell her anything, she would listen, and maybe find a way to connect it with the case.

"Why… did you do this to me?" He asked, pained, before collapsing again.

She looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't do this!" She exclaimed. "But whoever did must have overheard him telling me… he must have realized he didn't finish the job four years ago, and decided to end it now!" She understood. She stood, knowing that she was right instinctively.

"Hold on, then whoever did this would have to have been in that room with us… and, it must be a girl, or he wouldn't have thought it was me, that or Kurama, but he wouldn't have done this either…" she puzzled for a few minutes, unable to piece the puzzle together.

For some reason, the blood flow was slowing, maybe even coming to a stop. She looked at it absently, and realized that it had been a shape. She leaned forward, wondering what it was, and recoiled in shock.

The boys returned them, and saw Botan in that state. Curious, they set down the supplies and came closer. "Botan? Hey, Botan," Kuwabara tried to wake her up, shaking her lightly by the shoulders.

"She's in shock, moron," Yusuke stated, looking at the body of Joane and quickly understanding her horror.

Carved into his chest, were two words: "_RIVER STYX_".

END CHAPTER 16

FW: Shorter than usual, I know. But I think this is kinda important.

Hiei: You think wrong.

Yusuke: I'm surprised she thinks at all.

Kurama: Agreed.

FW: Yeah yeah. Well, I think this has reached past its prime, so I'm gonna end it as soon as I can. Don't know how long that'll take yet…. Well, review if you want, don't if you don't, and if you flame, ok. I'll take it in stride!


	17. Take Me to Your Section Leader

FW: …Hi?

Reader: Were. Were. You.

FW: Erk, I was busy!

Sola: So she says. (eating a bag of chips)

FW: What? I WAS busy!

Sola: Watching TV?

FW: Oh come on! It was Rurouni Kenshin!

Sola: YOU HAVE IT ON DVD!

FW: Yeah… but I need at least a weekly dose of Sano!

Sola: Well you could wait until AFTER you updated!

FW and Sola: (keep arguing)

Yu Yu gang: (watching)  
Botan: This is getting a bit annoying.

Yusuke: Don't complain, if they're torturing each other, they can't torture us!

FW: (sadly overheard) Right! Time to write!

Sola: Finally!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, whatever alien movie the chapter title came from, or "I'm too s#xy"

START

"Wake UP, dam# it!" Yusuke yelled, shaking the catatonic girl to no use. She simply swayed with his motion, eyes blank and unfocused. Ever since he had realized why she was in shock, he'd been trying to snap her out of it, hoping that she could give them another clue.

Oh yeah, he was concerned about herhealth too….

"Yusuke, you'll give her whiplash," Kurama pointed out, watching with a raised eyebrow.

"Well do YOU have any better ideas, Fox-boy?" Yusuke demanded, forgetting that the other had no clue what he was talking about.

"Did you just call me Fox-boy?"

"Uh… no?"

Hiei practically growled in irritation, "Kurama, get cold water. If we splash her a few times, maybe she'll wake up," he paused, thinking, "or even get pneumonia," he added, hopefully.

"Hiei…" the amnesia stricken fox started.

"No, it's a good idea," Kuwabara cut him off. "We'll watch over these two."

Not fully understanding why they wanted him out of the room, Kurama set off to get water for his friend.

Once he was out of earshot, Yusuke exploded. "River Styx! So they know WHO and WHAT we are, they've taken out Joane, Kurama doesn't remember anything, and Botan's useless! Meanwhile, we, know NOTHING!"

Kuwabara looked about aimlessly, "Well when you put it that way…" he said, put out.

"Then why don't we find out something," Hiei suggested maliciously, advancing on the helpless girl. He got to her without opposition, and leaned close, WAY too close.

Yusuke's face burned a bright crimson, as he watched the demon's face centimeters from Botan's, and getting closer. Unable to sit by and watch, he rushed over and pried the smaller boy away from her by the arm. "Hiei! That's sick! She's defenseless!" He yelled.

Hiei glared. "Whatever you're thinking, don't. I'm going to read her mind," he explained, acting as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you sure you should do that?" Kuwabara asked, slowly, for once thinking ahead. "If she's got a memory block too, then could she pass it to you through minds, like a virus."

The other two paused, pondering his words, and wondering when he grew a brain. Hiei recovered first, a daredevil smirk in place. "There's only one way to find out," he said, copying a human saying he'd once heard.

They watched anxiously, as he got into place again, so close to her, a hand reaching out to touch her forehead and make the connection.

Without warning, Botan's eyes snapped open. She blinked once, and seeing Hiei so close to her face, and hand reaching forward, she reacted totally on instinct. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!" She screeched, slapping him hard across the invading face.

"Well, I see this water is unnecessary," Kurama's voice was heard, and they all turned to see him carrying a bucket of cold water, staring at the scene before him. "Really Hiei, I didn't know you felt that way about her."

Maybe it was just the red handprint on his face, but Yusuke thought he saw tints of red that wasn't from injury. "Hn," he turned away, and the detective was left wondering if he just imagined it.

The newly awaked woman was reacquainting herself with reality, and seeing Joane's still bad condition, she immediately asked, "Has anything changed?"

"No," the redhead answered. "Though I've taken the time to call 911. He'll be taken to the hospital soon."

Nodding, the five waited for the sirens that would signal the ambulance. They kept each other company, but each was too shaken to really say anything, minus Hiei, who wouldn't have had much to say anyway.

When at last help had arrived, the officials wouldn't let any of them ride along with the flutist, and with nothing better to do, they all went back home.

In band the next day, there was an uproar, as usual, spreading rumors about the missing section leader. Mr. Nesul entered the room, and with a sweeping motion, quieted them all down. "As you may have heard, Joane Resserd was injured last night," he looked at all the intense faces, not wanting to say what he had to next. "He's currently in a coma, and won't be joining us for the rest of the season."

There was silence. Not the usual respect filled silence when Mr. Nesul spoke, but a shocked one. "Who's going to be the new flute section leader?" Flactem asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Mr. Nesul honestly answered. "Tomorrow is the next show, we might not be able to pull this off," he added, hating the truth.

"WHAT?"  
"Are you KIDDING us?"

"I blame the saxophones!" Mia yelled, her voice louder than the nonsense yammering. "I took Tsoy, so they decided to get even, and kill off Joane!"

Tsoy looked up at this accusation, "None of us would do that! I'm perfectly fine, so it wouldn't be fair to put someone in a coma!"

"As they say," Mia ignored him, glaring at the section, "all's fair in love and war. Luckily for us, this is war."

The percussion, following their leader's decision, made the saxophones the most hated section in a matter of seconds, booing, hissing, and throwing things at them

"Oh come off it!" Tac could be heard yelling, but again the room was so filled with noise, that her voice was lost in the sea of sound.

Flactem, still having his commanding aura, stood, and yelled at the top of his intimidating voice, "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Both sides of the war obeyed, the opposes more out of habit than anything. When Flactem spoke, you listened. "We're being stupid. Until Joane wakes up and tells us what happened, we don't know anything. So instead of fighting each other, we should appoint a new flute section leader."

Tac, wanting to seem in control of her half of the band, quickly stood up, "Yeah, that's what I order!" She exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. Annoyed, a senior trumpet player yanked her back into her seat, before the freshman could make a bigger fool of herself.

Botan laughed a little, good-naturedly about Tac's stupidity. "All right, that's what we'll do. Each flute will try out, and the best will become the temporary section leader," Mr. Neusl decided. Botan wasn't laughing anymore.

"What do we play?" A young flutist asked, shyly. Looking down the row of flutes, Botan realized for the first time that except for Joane, everyone was a girl!

"Actually," she thought to herself, "we ARE all girls."

"You can play whatever you like," Mr. Nesul decided. "Whatever you're best and most comfortable with."

One by one, the flutists played, most well. Every now and then, a girl would play higher than what she was capable of, and the whole band had to cover their ears in pain. Last in line, Botan was finally up. "What to play, what to play," she thought frantically, but came up with nothing.

With no more time to stall, she just let her fingers dance over the instrument, almost as if moving by themselves.

By coincidence, she played, "I'm too s#xy".

The detectives' mouths dropped at her "choice". Hiei, remembering the embarrassing situation when he tried to probe her mind, found himself… hiding in the bell of his sousaphone? No, of course not! Hiei was WAY above that! So then, why was his head inside the bell?

Botan finished the song, blushing at what she'd done, but it had been too late in the middle, when she realized, to stop and try something else.

Raising an eyebrow, Mr. Nesul evaluated them. "That was an… interesting piece, but I've rarely heard anything played so well," he smiled down at her, and she groaned, knowing what was coming, and not wanting it. "I think you'll make a great section leader."

"WHAT? How could a FRESHMAN be a SECTION LEADER?" Tac roared angrily.

"What, jealous that YOU aren't good enough to be one?" Mia challenged, but for once, the other girl didn't take the bait. She instead just looked to Flactem.

"It's a sacred rule! Only seniors can be section leader! WE'RE SCREWING UP THE BALANCE OF THE UNIVERSE!"

Flactem laughed a little at her angered and slightly fearful expression. "It IS a rule, but I don't think something that bad will happen if we break it," he tried to calm her down first. "And Mr. Nesul said that whoever played best would be it; she was definitely the best."

"Well if the world blows up, remember in Heaven that I told you so."

Kurama listened from a slight distance, before turning to glance at the blue haired girl. "More publicity," he thought, "just what we didn't want to attract."

His eyes widened at these strange thoughts. "Why wouldn't we want attention?" He asked himself silently, "and who exactly is "we"?" He puzzled over these thoughts a while longer, but nothing more would seep through the memory block.

END CHAPTER 17

FW: (sarcastic) Is that acceptable, oh Queen?

Sola: (still eating the chips) It'll do for now.

Kurama: How can a single bag of chips last so long?  
Sola: They replenish infinitely.

Kuwabara: (mouth watering) Need… magical chips! (makes a dive for them)

Sola: NO! MINE! (runs around in circles, and Kuwabara follows, also running in circles)

FW: This is sad. One more thing before I close this. I'm NOT a Hiei/Botan fan, I was just kidding around. This isn't going to have any pairings in it. Ok, so review ONLY if you want to (seems there's been confusion with this line!) and if you don't want to, that's perfectly fine! If you want to flame, fine by me. I'll take it in stride!


	18. Mia, What Have You Done?

FW: And I finally write again!

Botan: Over your depression already?

FW: …Not really… but I finally write again!

Kurama: How long are you planning on making this story?

Yusuke: I've been wondering that myself….

FW: Not sure… I THINK I'm wrapping it up now… but there still needs to be a few more chapters…. Time to clear up the confusion: Kurama is still in band even though he doesn't remember the mission because he's the type to stick with a project, especially when others depend on him. That's what he thinks of all this now, just a project. He doesn't have a problem being called "Kurama" because he thinks it's a nickname, with Suichii being his birth name. Sorry I forgot to mention all this… I overlook stuff. A lot.

Hiei: That's an understatement.

FW: No one asked you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

As soon as Botan had been named the new section leader, Kuwabara had wasted no time in celebrating. "Way to go Botan!" He yelled, pumping a fist into the air.

Tsoy, sitting directly behind him, gently took his arm back down. "Be careful what you say in school hours," he warned. "Don't forget, we are still in a war."

Kuwabara turned in his seat, glaring at the senior. "I don't give a crap about this stupidity. If anyone has a problem with me celebrating a friend's success I'll pound his head in!" He exclaimed, gaining a few weird looks from other saxophones.

Tsoy grinned, shaking his head in mock disappointment. It was more of a half grin though, and the spirit detective caught it. "What's wrong?"

"It's Mia," Tsoy answered, lowering his voice, hoping to avoid eavesdroppers. "Something's very wrong with her, and I don't know what."

"That's no big deal. There's always been a few things wrong with her," Kuwabara dismissed the subject easily.

"No, when she took me, there wasn't any threat in her actions, no anxiety, or fear of being caught. There… wasn't anything," Kuwabara leaned closer, interested in Tsoy's words. As far as anyone knew, he'd never talked about his capture. "Only after I was bound did she have any kind of emotion, and it was a depressed one. Not what you'd expect from someone who'd just "won". When I touched her-"

"Whoa!" Rackly cut in, having been standing close and listening in a little. "I thought you didn't go for girls!"

Tsoy glared at the sousaphone. "I don't."

"YOU'RE GAY?"

"You didn't know that?" Rackly asked Kuwabara looking down on the freshman in astonishment.

"Not important…" Tsoy tried to cut in and finish his sentence, but the two other brass players were still arguing. "Come on! I touched her ARM to HELP HER STAND!" He finally lost his patience and spoke loud enough to be heard. Luckily, the band room was still relatively noisy with Botan's shocking leadership.

"Rackly," Tsoy continued. "I don't think I was talking to you. Shouldn't you be annoying your own section?" He asked, throwing the insult in as a joke.

The other senior winked and left, waving back at them to show he understood, and no hard feelings.

The orange haired boy quickly got back on subject. "So what about when you touched her arm?"

Tsoy shook his head. "It felt like I was grabbing ice, except the feeling spread over my whole body. Something about it… I just… can't explain," he finished, leaning back into his seat worriedly.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Kuwabara muttered to himself, also resettling himself in the chair. He'd had similar experiences with his 6th sense, all bad. By now, he knew that if what Tsoy had just described happened on contact, it usually meant the other person was evil, and in a dangerous way.

He shifted his saxophone so he could use the reflection to glance at Mia. "I think we need to talk," he thought.

In the meantime, Hiei was plotting as well. Ignoring Mr. Nesul's attempt to restart the practice, he sent a mental message to Botan, Kuwabara, and Yusuke.

"Where IS he!" Yusuke demanded. It was after school hours, and Hiei, Botan, and himself had all gathered outside the city hospital, the same one Joane was housed in. The only one they awaited was Kuwabara.

"Hn, the oaf probably got himself lost," Hiei said, looking away. He wouldn't admit it, but he was REALLY missing Kurama's company. The fox would probably chide Hiei on his lack of faith, and find something sensible for them to do. But without him, they just stood there.

"We're not getting anywhere doing nothing," Botan reasoned, making the fire demon wonder if she had mind reading powers too. "We'll just have to do without him."

"That will make things easier…." Hiei mumbled, leading the way into the huge white building.

A nurse showed them to the still unconscious flutist's room. "Normally, we don't let anyone but family see someone in his condition," she whispered, as if afraid an avalanche might fall. "But I'll make an exception. Company will do him good, and no one's stopped by at all…." Botan looked away, tears forming in her eyes at the news. The nurse turned and left them with their privacy.

The room was a typical hospital room. Pure white, with medical equipment everywhere a person happened to look. All eyes ignored this though, and focused on the still, pale boy lying on the bed in the corner.

The three gathered around him, silent as possible. "There's gonna be security cameras," Yusuke whispered, not moving his lips. "Hiei, do what you have to, but don't make it obvious, and don't change expressions."

Hiei let himself a ghost of a smirk. "You don't have to remind me," he sent the words directly to the other two's heads.

Hiei made his way closer, arm slightly outstretching. Joane knew something, there was a reason he thought Botan did this, and that was a vital clue. The demon had quickly decided that if Joane wasn't able to tell them, he'd fish it out himself.

As discretely as possible, he let his fingertips ghost over the pale boy's forehead and concentrated, letting himself fill with the other's memories.

As he got used to being inside another's head, and when he was fairly sure his probing wouldn't shatter Joane's mind, he guided the memories to most recent, searching for what had happened before falling on Kurama's doorstep.

_Joane was walking down the street after dark. Not the smartest thing to do, but he had wanted to be alone._

_Footsteps behind him, he turned and a steak knife was shoved into his chest._

_The flutist fell to the ground, struggling to keep his eyes open. The figure stepped farther into the light. Dark hair, about shoulder length. Blank brown eyes staring down at him, and a feminine figure. The eyes disturbed him most. He recognized them from four years ago… as his parents' murderer. As she lowered herself farther down, knife glittering and ready to carve the two words, he blacked out._

Hiei withdrew, closing the third eye under his bandana and removing his hand. Keeping calm, he nodded to the others, and the three left.

"Well?" Yusuke asked, impatient as soon as they were clear of the hospital.

When the demon didn't respond right away, Botan took the opportunity, "It was that instructor from the other school, right?" She asked, enthusiastically.

"No."

Botan's enthusiasm was shot. "Are you sure?" She asked, dumbfounded now.

"Yes. Joane's assaulter was a female."

"A girl?" Yusuke puzzled. "Maybe an ex then?"

"Don't be stupid," Hiei drawled, but couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. The brown eyes remained in his mind as they walked.

Kuwabara, in this time, hadn't blown off their information gathering for video games. This time. He had successfully cornered Mia, literally.

"What happened when you took Tsoy?" He asked, getting down to business.

She made a face at him. "I'm not telling you!" She said.

The male groaned. He took a step forward, knowing that he'd never strike a girl, but hoping he looked intimidating enough. "He never did anything to you. Why would you take HIM of all people? Why not Tac, or me?" He asked.

She shrugged. "He was closest," she lied.

Kuwabara's body stiffened as he suddenly felt demonic aura in the hallway. He tried to move, and get the unsuspecting girl out of harm's way, but it was gone before he could move.

"No, not gone," he mentally corrected himself, noting the demonic surge of power in the senior's small form. "Inside her."

Kuwabara slowly backed away, not sure what to do. Mia didn't hesitate; her hand reached into her jeans' pocket, and pulled out a knife, crusted with dried blood. Her unseeing brown eyes stared at him as she slowly moved forward, toward him.

The biggest of the detectives took a defensive stance, then his eyes widened, putting pieces of the puzzle together. "You… attacked Joane last night!" He exclaimed, looking at the knife. "No, you're possessed!"

With speed that confirmed his belief, she attacked, him only just having enough time to dodge. She whirled about, facing him again, and raised the knife, prepared to strike.

But she didn't.

Her eyes held for only an instant, regret, before disappearing as whatever controlled her took over again. But still, she wouldn't, or couldn't, finish him off.

"Come on Mia…" Kuwabara rooted for her, not moving, as he didn't want to accidentally break her concentration.

"No…" she said, beads of sweat moving down her face, her hand shaking from the effort of keeping it from plummeting downward. "Not… AGAIN!" She yelled, the willpower in her soul forcing the demonic energy away from her.

The knife clattered, falling to the floor, Mia following soon after, her spirit spent. Kuwabara rushed forward, grabbing her shoulders and heaving her into a sitting position. In the corner of his eye, he watched the cloud-like evil energy vanish. "Are you alright?" He demanded at once.

She didn't answer at first, only shook in his grasp. "I've done horrible things…" she finally spoke. "Tsoy… Joane… oh Joane!" She yelled, jumping to her feet. The sudden action surprised Kuwabara; he didn't think she still had the strength. He watched her run away, still shocked, before realizing that maybe he should have stopped her…. "Oh crap…" he muttered, not bothering to get up.

Mia kept running, down the street, ignoring her fatigue, straight to the hospital. Her memory had been strangely unreachable, but now, she could see it all clearly. Last night, she HAD attacked Joane, but she didn't WANT to! She didn't MEAN to!

"Don't you dare die… I have a confession…" she panted, willing her legs to not stop running. "I… I think I killed them…." She closed her eyes, thinking of his parents, and battling the pain inside at those words. True, she WAS violent, and didn't mind death and destruction, but knowing SHE caused it was completely different. Despite popular belief, she WASN'T a mass murderer. "Or am I?" She questioned.

Not having been paying attention to where she was going, she ran right into the open arms of a stranger wrapped in a dark cloak. "Watch where you're going!" She yelled, the old personality shining through even in these times of turmoil.

The stranger's arms were wrapped around her, and they didn't ease up. "What the heck?" She asked, getting a bad feeling about this.

"We have no use for rouge puppets," he growled menacingly. A gun was in his right hand. "You're dismissed."

She really started to panic now, struggling wildly.

A large stick was thrown with perfect aim, hitting his the gun and knocking it away. The two turned to look at the newcomer.

Kurama stepped forward, "I thought you might need some assistance," he spoke to Mia, who "hmph"ed and turned away.

The man's eyes narrowed as he turned to his new opponent, Mia still held firmly in place. "How hard can one teenager be to beat?" He asked himself silently, smirking. "This may be the legendary Kurama, but without his memories, he's just a normal human."

END CHAPTER 18 

FW: I made it longer than usual!

Yusuke: So to counter your good dead, you left a cliffhanger.

FW: Pretty much. Review if you chose, don't if you don't. If you flame, k. I'll take it in stride! (I'll take it proudly, in other words)


	19. When it Rains, it Pours

FW: Hello, hello, HELLO!

Botan: She's doing it again….

Yusuke: What?

Botan: Imitating Count Olaf. Badly, I might add.

FW: Hey, that's a great movie! And it's FINALLY on video!

Kurama: I feel sorry for the children.

FW: Eh, don't worry. They get over it.

Kurama: Watching all your last relatives die in front of you isn't normally something you get over quickly.

FW: Well… they're special.

Kuwabara: Uh… why are we talking about "A Series of Unfortunate Events"?

FW: Don't… remember…. So anyway, I've actually had this planned out for a week now, I was just too lazy to write it!

Hiei: Why bother tell us that?

FW: Well, it's gotta be worth SOMETHING. And sorry if updates are so slow now. Don't forget that I'm a freshman in high school, who's struggling to keep grades up, get stronger, and keep up with two bands! That's right, TWO BANDS! This fic shows how hard just one is! Imagine another!

Yusuke: Are you done yet?

FW: Almost, wait, yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own "A Series of Unfortunate Events", Yu Yu Hakusho, or baseball, but then, does anyone own that?

START 

The cloaked man, Mia's attacker, didn't move. Kurama held his gaze, waiting for the opening attack, also not moving. No one aside from the three was on the street.

Mia rolled her eyes from her uncomfortable position, held in the would-be murderer's arms. "Get on with it already!" She yelled, impatient.

Kurama sweatdropped. "You can't rush these things."

The black clad man however, agreed with Mia, for he suddenly and roughly threw Mia into the brick wall of a nearby house. Caught completely unprepared, her back and head connected solidly, and she slumped to the ground, unmoving.

"Mia!" The redhead yelled her name in concern, and in the moment of distraction, the other made a rush for the gun. Deciding that he'd just have to check on her later, save both of their lives NOW, Kurama tore his eyes away from her and hurried to catch up.

The man reached for the gun, and in the same instant, the fox baseball slid next to the object. Both grabbed it at the same time.

"Let go!" He yelled, trying to shake the stubborn demon off, who kept a firm grip.

"YOU let go!"The redheadsaid back, letting his instincts guide him into kicking upward into the man's gut.

He swore and his grip weakened, allowing Kurama to rip the weapon away. While the villain was withering on the ground, he took the opportunity to unload the gun and toss the bullets away, followed by the gun itself.

"It appears you've lost," he said, walking up to the stranger who was laying face down on the concrete. Kurama was shocked at howicy his voice was, and more so that the life-or-death situation didn't phase him at all, almost as if he was used to it….

The amnesia stricken boy mentally shook his head. He could always think this over later. "Who are you, and why did you attack Mia?" He asked, getting to business, now standing directing in front of him.

Before even his heightened senses could know what was happening, the stranger's arm shot out from underneath his own body. Skeleton like fingers wrapped around the shocked boy's ankle, quickly pulling back and knocking him off balance. Kurama fell hard on his back before his sharp mind could register what had happened.

"Stupid fox," the man said slowly, standing and towering over the fallen redhead. "You really thought you won, didn't you? You're nothing without your powers."

Green eyes stared up in confusion. "Fox? I remember Hiei calling me that once… does he know Hiei?" he wondered silently. "And what does he mean by "powers"?" He didn't have much time to think, as the other reached down toward him.

He grabbed the bright red hair, forcibly lifting the fox to his feet by it. Kurama knew deep down that he was trapped. His opponent had a firm grip on his hair, which can be used to control a person through pain when pulled. Also, he was obviously stronger, and bent on killing the two teenagers.

The killer must have sensed Kurama's depression, "That's a good boy. I'll kill you quick, if you want," he said, sickly. As soon as the words left his mouth, the fox glared straight at him, green eyes boring into his defiantly. He flinched, but only for a moment. Soon, the skeletal fingers were wrapping aroundsomething else.Kurama's throat.

Said boy never even blinked. He continued to stare into those cold eyes, taking pride in the fact that he'd at least die honorably. By now, both hands were squeezing the life out of him. Once the first had been in place, the second had abandoned its post at his hair to join it.

In less than a minute, the fox was beginning to feel light headed. He knew he was losing conscious, and as soon as he did, he'd die easily, but it didn't change the fact.

_"Let go," _a voice inside his head ordered urgently.

"What…?" Kurama asked. He was getting so tired….

_"Trust me. Let go of yourself. If you stay Suichii Minamino, you'll die!"_ It said.

"I am Suichii Minamino…."

_"No, you're not! Just let go!"_

"Can it wait until tomorrow?"

_"If you won't save your life, I will!"_

Kurama's eyes snapped open. Something in him shifted. Bodily, he was still Suichii Minamino, but golden eyes could be seen shining through.

His capturer was taken aback at the sudden change, and didn't notice the rapidly growing grass nearby.

He screamed in shocked fear as the grass began wrapping around him, the sharp edges tearing at his skin. In his panic, he dropped the impassive boy, who landed gracefully on his feet.

The grass wound its way upthe fox'sarm at his command, not cutting its master. "You have answers I seek. Start talking if you value your life," he commanded coldly, more than a gold tint in his eyes now.

The other, though still shaken up, seemed to regain his cool, dusting himself off. "I see you've found a way around your memory block," he stated. "I should have guessed, with your Youko half."

Kurama didn't falter.

"Would you like to remember everything?" He asked, grinning horribly.

At his silent order, the memory block was shattered. Imagesswirled through his brain, all the memories that were kept from him.

Mia regained conscious in time to see him collapse, as Hiei had predicted earlier to his friends, broken spirited. Though she had no way of knowing it, his painful past had been relived, all at once without any preparation. What had once taken centuries had seemingly occurred in less than a minute, and the shock was too much.

Mia struggled to stand, but the pain in her head was dizzying, and she fell back against the wall. The man heard her struggle, even with his back turned to her, and spoke to the motionless fox. "Looks like we'll have to cut this suffering short. Goodbye, Kurama." He lifted his hand for the final blow, when

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- YA!"

Tac, coming from seemingly nowhere, gave a leaping kick at the taller man. She merely bounced off, but the "damage" was done. He took one last look at the fallen fox. "He won't be causing trouble any time soon," he reasoned, before fleeing, not wanting any witnesses.

"Hey, get back here!" The energetic girl yelled, starting to give chase before stopping in mid-stride and turning around. "Oh right, these guys…" she laughed, walking over to Mia, who seemed to be in better condition. "You ok?" she asked, reaching a hand down to help the section leader up.

Mia slapped the hand away, glaring at the freshman. "I don't need a BRASS player's help, and especially not YOUR'S," she said acidly.

"Mia?"

"What?"

"You're an idiot."

"YOU LITTLE…" Mia exploded, trying again to get to her feet, and again failing.

Tac continued as if there wasn't a homicidal senior who was trying to kill her. "You're the only one at this point who's taking this "band war" seriously. Even I've let it go!" She exclaimed.

"Well someone's got to keep it going, and that's all the more reason for me to!" Mia yelled, stubbornly.

"Fine, I won't help you. Get a concussion," Tac leaned closer, eyes narrowing. "But not until you tell me what happened."

"Why should I tell YOU!"

"Because you're not the only one here!" Tac yelled, pointing at the still Kurama, blank green eyes unseeing.

"Kurama…" Mia said slowly, remembering how he jumped in to save her. He risked his life for her, without anyone asking him too.

"That's right," Tac agreed with a softer tone. "He's in my section, and even though I'm not a section leader, right here, right now, I'm the closest to one."

"I'M a section leader you moron," Mia snapped back.

Tac shook her head. "You're not acting like it." (FW: Section leaders are like mini band directors. They're in charge to an extent, and it's their job to keep the band, especially their own section, in line and safe on trips.)

Mia sighed, knowing she was right. "Sh#t. Did I just admit Tac was right?" She wondered mentally, but brushed it aside. "Fine. Some guy attacked me, and he came over to help. I blacked out, and when I woke up, you were here." She summarized quickly, leaving out the part about her going to the hospital.

Tac nodded. "Ok. I'll take you both to the hospital."

Mia shook her head, trying, and managing to stand. "I'm just going to go home. And I don't think Kurma's friends will want him in the hospital. Here," she handed Tac a folder piece of paper.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at it.

"Yusuke's address."

"WHAT!"

"I needed SOMETHING to do," Mia shrugged, before turning and leaving.

Tac watched her go before turning back the other trumpeter. She then looked at the paper in her hand. "Note to self: Stay, er, GET on Mia's good side."

END CHAPTER 19

FW: That fight was a lot longer than I meant. Hm, was it any good?

Mia: (holding an ice pack to her head) No.

FW: You didn't even fight! Anyway, review if you want, don't have to, of course. If you flame, cool. I'll take it in stride!


	20. All for Nothing?

FW: Star Wars, Star Wars, STAR WARS, STAR WAR-

Yusuke: (whacks FW off the back of the head, semi-hard) You'll thank me later.

FW: (rubbing her head) Right. Ow….

Kurama: I envy Kuwabara.

Botan: Why?

Kurama: He's missing the writing of this chapter, due to seeing the new Star Wars movie.

FW: WHAT! WELL FORGET THIS CHAPTER, I'M GOING TOO! (starts running off)  
Angered Reader: (grabs FW and drags her back to her pc) Not until you write.

FW: But by the time I'm done, the movie will be over!

Hiei: (sarcastic) Look at the compassion in our eyes.

FW: Darn it…. FINE, BUT I'M WRITING A STAR WARS FIC AFTER!(sets off to write)

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, or Yu Yu Hakusho

START

"This… isn't… frickin'… fair…" Tac huffed, dragging the body of Kurama down yet another street. He still hadn't made any sign that he was still alive, though she was fairly sure he was.

"Should have… made her… stay… and… help," she complained further at Mia, who was probably, in her mind, watching TV, eating ice cream, and laughing at her.

"Ok… three more… houses… I… can do… it," the brunette encouraged herself, focusing on her feet moving forward, and keeping a sturdy grip on the redhead's arm. She stopped and dropped his arm.

"Changed my mind. I CAN'T DO IT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Keep it down, will ya?" Yusuke yelled, sticking his head out of his house door to see what was going on. He blinked at the sight before him. Tac stared back at him.

"YOU KILLED KURAMA!"

"Wha-, no! I can explain!" She started to defend herself, but Hiei, who heard Yusuke's accusation, without anyone seeing him move, already had his sword at her throat.

Botan walked outside timidly. The three had been trying to piece together clues, and it looked as though they'd found the biggest yet.

Tac analyzed the situation. The midget had a sword pressed against her throat, how he got there, she had no idea. The girl was holding an oar. And the gangster was… pointing his finger at her? She raised an eyebrow. "And people say I'M weird…."

"Explain." Hiei didn't sound too patient.

"He was like this when I found him! Some guy attacked him and Mia, then I scared him off with my awesome fighting skills!"

Hiei smirked. "She's got about as much fighting skill as my sousaphone," He thought. Turning more to the matters at hand, he glanced at Kurama, noting his chest still rising and falling at regular intervals.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he let the blade leave the freshman's neck. Yusuke let his hand relax, trusting Hiei to know what he was doing in letting their guard down.

The two boys quickly brought their fallen friend indoors. Tac told everything of importance, noticing the others' controlled anger at hearing Mia's reluctance to help.

Hiei analyzed the fox's condition during her explanation. It wasn't difficult to figure out. "He's in shock," he told the others mentally once she was finished. "The memory block has been removed."

"GUYS!" Kuwabara could be heard slamming the door in his haste to reach them faster. "It was Mia! Mia attacked Joane!"

Botan put her hand to her forehead in exasperation. "Honestly, you have the worst timing possible!" She muttered.

"Huh-"

"No she didn't!" Tac yelled, defending the fellow band member.

"What's she doing here?" Kuwabara asked, confused. "Urameshi, I thought you were with Keiko!" He looked the girl over a few times. "Besides, you can do better."

In the meantime, Tac's idea of how Mia was passing the time couldn't have been more wrong.

She walked into the band room, keeping her confident air about her. "Mr. Nesul," she called, knowing that he'd be there, despite school's end over three hours ago.

"Yes Mia?" As expected, he came out of his office, still clutching music sheets he'd been considering handing out.

"I'm not going to be around for a while. I'm going to miss the next competition."

"Mia, what?" Mr. Nesul asked, eyes widening in shock. "This is so sudden! We need you!"

"I'm sorry, but things have come up. I don't know when I'll be back," she ended the conversation. Without looking back, the dark haired girl turned and left the room.

"I need to figure out what's going on first," she decided mentally. "And I have to do iton my own."

It took about half an hour to calm Tac down, and convince her that it was a different Mia and Joane. Now they all sat in an awkward silence in Yusuke's room.

"Tac…" Yusuke started. "This is my house."

"Really now…" Tac rolled her eyes, not seeing where the detective was going with this.

"Tac… I don't want you in my house."

"Too late." Wow, she's slow!

"Tac… I'm kicking you out of my house."

"…Oh…"

The next day, Yusuke was surprised to see his section leader's absence. She'd never been absent before…. He noticed the other percussionists' worried glances to her empty bells set.

Mr. Nesul came into the room. If Yusuke had been hoping his teacher would brighten the mood, he was sadly mistaken. If anything, he only added to the depression.

Normally bright and sunny, the middle-aged man was deep in thought, and a frown was pasted on his face. "Class," he addressed them. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Mia is going to be away for some time. I don't know when she'll return, but she's going to miss the next competition."

"But we'll be short two section leaders!" Flactem roared from next to Tac, who slumped in her seat, remembering Kuwabara's accusation.

"It's not true but… am I missing something?" She wondered silently.

"Kurama's not going to be there either," Yusuke spoke up, not bothering to raise his hand. "He's real sick."

Mr. Nesul sighed before nodding. "We still need to come in the top 5…" he said slowly. "There are 18 bands still left in the tournament."

Botan tried to swallow the lump in her throat. As the new section leader, she had gained a lot of responsibility that she wasn't sure she could handle. She stood anyway, a hand over her heart. "We'll do our best," she pledged.

The day of the competition was horrible. It was raining, with random gusts of wind.

The four detectives huddled together to stay warm. Kurama, as Yusuke had suspected, wasn't well. He hadn't so much as blinked since regaining his memory. Hiei had taken to watching him for the most part, leaving his side only for school and leads for their mission, both reluctantly.

All the leads had turned out false. Mia was their best clue at this point, and she'd disappeared. Kuwabara had filled them in on what had happened, assuring them that she had been possessed. Hiei had realized that the eyes of the murderer in Joane's memory were hers, and that was really the last break through they'd uncovered. They needed Kurama!

Kuwabara tore his thoughts away from such matters. Dwelling on it wouldn't help right now. He looked over his teammates, all wearing the bright, and by now, soaked uniform. Botan caught his attention, fiddling with her flute, obviously nervous.

In a brotherly way, he put his arm around her. "Hey, don't worry. Things'll be ok."

"Time to go!" Rackly shouted, beckoning them over, Flactem standing beside him. Again, three of the detectives had to fight to not laugh at the giant boy, the exception being Hiei.

The show was a disaster. Without Mia to guide them, the snare lost confidence halfway through the show; their sound became uncaring, and was lost in the wind.

Botan was still the soloist, but kept glancing backward at her section, not sure how she was supposed to lead them.

Kuwabara hadn't gotten the hang of marching yet. He slipped on a wet piece of grass and fell, ungracefully, on his face, saxophone flying into a clarinet player.

Hiei didn't do badly, but at this point, did it really matter?

Mij, the drill instructor, was furious. He yelled while the rest of the bands preformed. He yelled while they packed up their instruments. He yelled while the announcer got his microphone. He only stopped when the said announcer began to speak.

"In fifth place, BRIDGETOR HIGH SCHOOL! In forth place, MARCHETON HIGH SCHOOL! In third place, SCRETT HIGH SCHOOL! In second place, WENCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL! And in first place… DARTTYTH HIGH SCHOOL!"

There was a lot of cheering following this news, but no Rekat student joined in. Yusuke stormed off, knowing all their hard work had just gone to waste.

Botan stared off, feeling the rain mix with her tears of disappointment. "I guess our best wasn't good enough," she said.

END CHAPTER 20

FW: So, is it all over? Or am I planning something… ONLY I KNOW! (evil laughter)

Kuwabara: (comes in) That was a great movie!

FW: I… MISSED IT! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Kurama: I'll say it then: if you would like to enter a review, they are appreciated, but not required. Flames are all right too; she'll take it in stride.


	21. The AntiDrug for Band Geeks

FW: (chained to pc, wearing handcuffs)

Sola: Update. (has a sword to FW's throat) Now.

FW: (grumbles and types faster than usual)

Yusuke: Think she remembers that she can't be hurt in her own territory?

All other Yu Yu characters: Probably not.

Sola: So anyway, anyone who reads this, like usual, has ME to thank for getting FW off her lazy as-

FW: No swearing.

Sola: (confused) What?  
FW: No swearing. See, watch. (throws a rock at Yusuke's head. It hits)

Yusuke: AW F#CK YOU BIT#H! WHAT THE F#CK DID YOU F#CK'IN DO THAT SH#T FOR?

Sola: (amazed and thrilled) Wow!

FW: (proud of herself too)

Botan: Are they supposed to be… this mentally unstable?

Kurama: I doubt it, but there's little we can do, is there?

FW: And… I SAW STAR WARS AT LONG LAST!

Kurama: Especially now.

FW: IT WAS SO COOL! I WANNA SEE IT AGAIN SOON, AND-

Sola: WRITE DA#M IT! (shoves sword closer to FW's throat) …Ya know, that no-swearing thing IS kinda annoying from the other side….

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, or Star Wars. Uh, I don't own Santa either… or enzyme.

START

"Now, does anyone know the answer…?" Mr. Yah droned on. The classes weren't exceptionally hard, at least not for a fire demon currently enduring his chemistry block. It was the next school day following the band's disaster performance, and if Hiei ever needed a reason to glare, he'd found it.

So glare he did. At the incredibly boring teacher who looked like Santa Claus on drugs.

"Hiei, you've been here for a few weeks, and I've never seen you raise your hand. Do you understand all this?" The class's attention was brought to the shortest, and one of the more deadly, "kids" in the school.

"Only a complete idiot wouldn't," he stated flatly, earning stares from some of the more average students.

"Thanks a lot," Yusuke muttered, sitting next to his "lab partner" and teammate, none other than Hiei himself.

"Hn."

"Well, as a reminder, tomorrow is the mid term. It will be 20 percent of your overall grade, so I suggest you all study hard," Mr. Yah gave up on Hiei. "If you have any questions, now is the time to ask."

Various students raised their hands, though Yusuke wasn't among them.

Hiei glanced over at his "friend". "Is the world coming to an end and you understand everything?" He asked.

"Nope. I have no idea what I'm doing." Why was the fire demon not surprised?

"Do I have to remind you of the C or better rule?" Hiei asked, growing more annoyed by the minute.

Yusuke snickered. "Do I have to remind YOU, that our band is out of the running? That stupid rule doesn't matter anymore!"

Hiei considered this, and as much as he hated to admit it, knew the detective was right.

"Now, for your lab today, we'll be working with hydrochloric acid, so find your safety equipment…."

"Safety equipment?" Hiei scoffed at the weakness of the teenagers scurrying to protect themselves. At least he and the detective were stronger than that.

He looked over at said detective, or really, his empty seat.

"Hiei, you might want to put these on," Yusuke said carefully upon his return, holding two sets of gloves and goggles. He could see Hiei's "you just betrayed me, prepare to die" face, and didn't want to press it.

Hiei didn't answer, just gave a look that clearly said he wouldn't.

"Suit yourself."

Two hours later, it was almost time for the bell signaling the end of the day to ring, when the itcom beeped, letting everyone know the principal was about to talk.

"Mr. Nesul has requested all band students meet in the band room for an emergency meeting at this time," he said simply, static altering his voice. The itcom beeped once again, the telltale sign the message was complete.

Kuwabara was as grateful as any other band student to leave the mid-term preparation. "Honestly, why do we have to learn French anyway?" He muttered to no one in particular. "We live in Japan! Bonjour my spirit swo-" he stopped in mid-sentence, not wanting to give any information away to random kids.

So anyway, with the exception of Joane, Mia, and, sadly, Kurama, all the band students gathering into the familiar band room. Mr. Nesul was bursting with joy, humming to himself as he tidied up stray music sheets on his conductor's stand. For someone who taught music, you'd think he'd be able to sing more on key….

Once the room got quiet enough to hear his soft voice, he made the shocking announcement. "Guys, we're still in the competition!"

The room went silent in surprise.

"What?" Well, ALMOST silent. "I SAW us get our butts handed to us!" Tac yelled from somewhere in the trumpet section. Flactem covered her mouth with a hand, sweatdropping.

"Yeah…" Tsoy muttered, though not completely agreeing with the freshman's choice of words. "We should be out of the running."

Mr. Nesul winked happily, which seeing it come from a balding middle-aged man, was kind of freaky. "One of the opponent students admitted to being given steroids, so all the bands were tested. Nine bands had at least one student test positive. That makes only nine clean bands who made it to the last show, which means we're being bumped up a few places!"

"Wait a second," Botan thought frantically. "We were tested for drugs, without knowing about it!"

"Yeah isn't that kinda… I don't know… ILLEGAL!" Rackly yelled.

"Actually, no," Mr. Nesul said slowly, "adults only say you have rights to make you feel better."

Annoyed silence.

"What kind of drugs were they on?" Yusuke asked suddenly, interested in what choice brands the other band geeks tried.

"Does it really matter-" someone started to say, but the teacher answered.

"Mostly steroids, no I DON'T know what kind," he added, seeing Yusuke's big mouth start to open, with a disapproving look on his face. He glanced down at an official looking document on the stand. "And apparently," his eyebrow rose. "One band's students tested positive with enzyme."

"The natural male enhancement!" A chubby nerd stood up, proud of himself.

"Nats… please sit down," Mr. Nesul blinked.

Slightly embarrassed, the eccentric blonde, Nats, lowered himself to his seat.

"The bell's about to ring, so you should all gather your things and study for the mid-terms," Mr. Nesul finished the meeting.

Almost in sync, the high schoolers stood, herding toward the door. Somehow, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Botan, and Hiei managed to get together.

They left together, but didn't talk much. Kurama had been taken to the hospital, where he could be watched over 24/7, but the others knew full well that Hiei would spend most of his free time looking after the fox.

Kuwabara and Botan broke off from their little group to head to where they'd stay the night. For Kuwabara, that would be his house, and for Botan, well, to be honest, none of them really knew where she slept. That just left Hiei and Yusuke.

Hiei nodded his goodbye, and was about to flit off when the detective caught his right arm.

Hiei almost grimaced in pain, and Yusuke immediately let go of the burn marks snaking up his right, and most likely left, arm. "That's what you get for not wearing gloves," he chastised, smirking at the demon's stubbornness in not wearing them in chemistry.

"Did you want to insult me, or do you actually have something of relative importance to say?" Hiei growled.

"Yeah… could you help me study?"

The night went horribly slow for most students, cramming their brains with last minute information that might be on the test.

"Yusuke! You look horrible!" Botan exclaimed, seeing her friend the next morning before school started.

Yusuke glared. He knew full well that he didn't look good, but horrible? He hadn't gotten any sleep that night, had to fill himself off caffeine, and occasionally Hiei's sword poking his throat to stay awake. Not to mention he never studied before in his life, and it's not like Hiei had much tutoring experience in the Makai. Result: both weren't happy campers. Darn the C or better rule!

The only consolation he got was Kuwabara looked just as bad. The poor fool no doubt did an all-nighter too, and for school of all things!

Botan looked well, she obviously got plenty of rest,sure ofher abilities to at least pass. "Well, good luck to us all!" She said, chipper as usual.

With that, they all went their separate ways, ready to take the midterms, or as ready as they were going to get.

Quickly gaining the confidence that makes Yusuke Yusuke, he punched his palm with a fist lightly, exclaiming, "Bring it on!"

END CHAPTER 21

FW: There. Happy?

Sola: (reads it over) Good enough.

FW: So… can you do something about this? (indicates sword)

Sola: I don't trust you to update on your own anymore. So… start writing.

FW: WHAT!

Kurama: I can't tell who's in a worse situation: FW, or us.


	22. Connections and a Switch

FW: (free of Sola-san's chains) Yes, that's right, Sola-SAN. Her birthday's come, and now, we're the same age, which makes us, (gag) equals!

Hiei: Get over it.

FW: Wow, that's disturbing!

Kurama: What?

FW: My friend say's "get over it" all the time!

Hiei: Your friends have taste? Shocking.

FW: Not YOUR kind of taste. Short skirts, belly shirts, lots of makeup…. Wouldn't look bad though….

Everyone but Hiei: (has "interesting" images…)

Hiei: (smoking)

FW: (noticing the danger) Uh… so anyway, happy birthday Sola! This is dedicated to you! And while I'm giving shout outs… (sigh) sandry stardiamond-san, I've been trying to keep the main plot, but if I'm not, sorry. And to AmnarRanma-sama, that WOULD have been wicked funny if it were a girl taking enzyte! (thanks for the correction, Deus X Machina-sama)! Little disturbing, but that's what makes life fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any Green Day songs.

START 

"It had to be a PRACTICAL test…" Yusuke muttered irritably. All night learning definitions and formulas wouldn't help him here.

Hiei found himself agreeing. All night teaching that idiot definitions and formulas wouldn't help the detective here.

The lab focused on chemistry, naturally. They were supposed to make a minor chemical reaction, create water. The two-seat table held everything they needed, including a partner.

Which was lucky or unlucky by the way you looked at it for Yusuke. Hiei was smart, but a little… explosive-happy.

"Hiei, just swallow your pride and wear the gloves," he instructed, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"No."

One hour… one hour Yusuke had to complete the lab….

Across the hall, Kuwabara was struggling with his own exam, Global Studies. His was in the traditional form of a written test. Who knew there was a country called Zagastaria, (FW: Yeah, I made it up) and who'd know its capital?

After much pained thinking, the teenager just scribbled "banana" and moved on.

As expected, Botan was doing decently enough.

So, back to Yusuke….

KABOOM!

"HIEI! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SET IT ON FIRE!" Yusuke yelled, staring at their ruined project.

Hiei stared at it too. "You said it needed extreme heat."

"Not "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" extreme!"

Somehow, all their classmates and teacher managed to survive, now looked fearfully at the arguing detectives.

Yusuke just noticed that now. "Hiei, can you do something about them? We can't leave witnesses."

Hiei nodded, powering mortal flame in his hand.

"Don't KILL them Hiei! Just erase their memories!"

"You never let me do anything my way."

Somehow, the four made it through the day, handing in hastily finished projects and tests.

Again, before the bell managed to ring and release the over pressured kids, the itcom made an announcement. "Mr. Nesul would like to inform all his band students, because so few bands remain, the next competition will be finals. Be prepared as best as you can, and if you have any information on the whereabouts of section leader, Mia, please tell him. That is all." The click responded.

The detectives breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they failed their midterms and broke the C or better rule, it would be too late to know before the last show on Friday, which meant they couldn't get penalized!

For once, they didn't walk to their houses together, each wanted to hurry and get some missed rest, except for Botan, of course, who just needed some "girl time".

Which left Kuwabara to walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams-

Wrong story.

Anyway, Kuwabara was walking down an empty street, when he felt a familiar energy. He stopped, trying to remember it. The first thought was Mia, but he dismissed it quickly. It definitely wasn't her.

Because he senses were for once failing him, he trusted his eyes to not, turning around.

"Rackly?" He thought, not understanding. It wasn't Rackly who he thought he'd sense, and he knew the teen well enough to recognize him.

He moved into the shadows quickly, knowing Rackly hadn't seen him yet. It was purely instinct. He didn't even know why until a pained, gasping voice said "Rackly!" in his mind. Kurama's voice. The last thing he said before losing his memory. Maybe now he'd find out why.

As he suspected, it wasn't Rackly's energy he had been sensing, it was coming from the inside of a car following the sousaphone player.

The window rolled down. "Come on Rackly," a man's deep voice sounded, "I'll give you a ride home."

"No thanks," the other said, not bothering to look at him, obviously knowing exactly who it was, and not pleased. All traces of humor were gone from the normally fun boy.

"You could run into trouble-"

"YOU are trouble," the now angry teen stated, a fire growing in his eyes not unlike Yusuke's.

"Now is that any way to treat your uncle?"

Uncle? Kuwabara's eyebrows furrowed. Why would Rackly hate his own uncle so much? And this still didn't explain why Rackly's name would be the one cried out by a hurt fox.

Rackly didn't respond to the question, only walked faster. Kuwabara was sure he'd see his poor hiding place, but the leader was so upset, he stormed right past, never turning back.

The car continued to follow, and the orange haired man caught a glance of Rackly's uncle. He wasn't anything special. Short, dark hair, brown eyes. He looked to be human, but Kuwabara could only see his round, tan, face.

It was a face Kuwabara had managed to remember: the opposing band director they'd been sent to check out.

Kuwabara had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from uttering a noise of surprise. He figured it out! That man took Kurama out by some kind of scent that would let him switch his memories around, Hiei and himself hadn't been affected because their sense of smell isn't nearly as keen. It had been a trap designed for the fox.

Rackly must have inherited some traces of the strange energy, and Kurama must have recognized it, trying to warn them that the two were somehow connected.

Upon realizing this, Kuwabara found something else. Every time someone found something, they were ambushed. Joane was discovered to be the same one from four years ago, now he was in the hospital. Kurama was taken out twice, and Mia, who knew WHERE she was.

He'd just have to lay low long enough to tell the others. After that, well, he'd figure that out later….

With that stupid thought in mind, he hurried off to find Yusuke.

Meanwhile, Hiei wouldn't admit it, but teaching the detective all night could really take its toll on you, especially if he's just plain not learning!

He was seriously looking forward to finding a nice tree to sleep in, but first, he wanted to check on the fox. Make sure those idiot humans hadn't managed to kill the toughest thief of all time.

Hiei smirked. Right, even in a coma, they couldn't kill him….

He strode in the doors confidently, by now the staff knew not to mess with him. It was after he stepping into the familiar room that housed his friend that he faltered.

The redhead was sitting up, gazing out the window, seemingly unaware of the fire demon's presence.

Fatigue forgotten, Hiei walked up to his friend, who was still unaware of his presence and tapped him lightly on the throat with one finger. Startled, the fox jumped. Hiei smirked. "Not up to your usual standard."

Kurama turned to face him, Hiei expected to see cheer reflected in his green eyes, and was shocked to find nothing but frost, and… anger? "Kurama?" Hiei asked, fearing the worst for his friend's memory. What if it had been manipulated into thinking Hiei was an enemy?

"Hiei," the redhead said so coldly it would have rivaled Hiei's own voice.

"What's wrong with you?" Hiei almost yelled, grabbing his shoulders as gently as he could force himself to, which wasn't too gentle. Kurama never responded.

"Nothing. In fact, I feel better than I have in decades."

Hiei groaned in realization. "Youko," he greeted, not sure what else to say.

Kur, YOUKO, smirked. "I see you've figured it out. Shuichii's a little bent out of shape. Lucky for you, I'm able to fill in."

"Fill in? What are you talking about?" Hiei asked, knowing the answer, but not wanting to voice it.

Youko gave a harsh laugh. "The band. Without Shuichii, there's an empty place where he should march. I'm the only one who can fill it."

Hiei gritted his teeth and released a pleased Youko's shoulders. In normal situations, Hiei would have just flat out said no. These WERE the finals though, they wouldn't get another shot. Besides, Youko would know the drill and how to play, thanks to Kurama's learning.

To put it simply, he didn't have any choice.

"Don't do anything stupid."

END CHAPTER 22

FW: There we go! Happy birthday Sola-san!

Yusuke: The chapter's officially over, so I get the "honor" of telling the readers something they missed. Last chapter, FW didn't write that she'd "take it in stride" to see how many people would notice.

FW: And the answer is… no one! Yay! I pulled a fast one!

Sola-san: You ARE pathetic.

FW: Don't hit birthday girl, don't hit birthday girl, don't hit….

Sola-san: I'm going to have fun with this!

Yusuke: (watching FW chant) K, looks like I'll have to end this. Review if you like, but it's not required. If you flame, ok. She'll take it in stride!


	23. Youko, Fitting In!

FW: (acting like an announcer) And so, we all return to the much anticipated 23rd chapter of "The Trials of a Marching Band". The clues are starting to piece together, Youko is taking Kurama's place in the band, and where the heck is Mia? (ok, acting like a really bad announcer…)

Youko: I don't know why I agreed to this.

Yusuke: You didn't. She just writes it while we suffer in the background.

FW: Pretty much. Since Youko is officially a part of the story now, he can, er, must, hang out with the usuals before and after the story.

Kurama: (in the corner, in a coma)

Hiei: What. Did. You. Do.

FW: Well… since Youko's here, and uh… heck, I don't know. He's just in a coma for a while.

Youko: I don't know how to react to this…..

Botan: HE'S YOUR OTHER HALF!

Youko: But now… I'M FREE! (runs off to cause world terror)

FW: …That's my fault, isn't it? Anyway, GuardRifleGirl-sama, glad your liking it so much! As for why Kuwabara's figuring everything out… no idea. I don't plan these out, I just write and see what happens! And destinyfareie-san, I can see why you don't want this in real life… or at least not the circumstances, but the people I hope you like at least! Where's the fun if there aren't any psychos!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

"This had better be good," Yusuke glared, or glared as best as he could while half asleep.

Yusuke had made good on his promise to get as much rest as possible after the mid-terms, and now that IDIOT, as Yusuke couldn't help calling him, Kuwabara had decided to disturb his precious sleep by screeching his name in some sort of chicken-like voice.

Seeing his rival like this, barely awake, Kuwabara had to fight not to laugh. He was pretty sure he could outrun the detective in his condition should he get ticked and try to knock off the taller boy's head, but that would give Kuwabara a rain check. So he just held his tongue.

"Of course it's good! Why would I tell you something pointless?"

"Because that seems to be your goal in life," Hiei growled, standing on the windowsill without either teen noticing his arrival.

While Kuwabara choked on his own words in surprise, Hiei growled, "Whatever you have to say, I doubt it's more important than what's coming through your door in about 3 seconds."

3

2

1

Darn, a second off. Three pairs of eyes and one jagan turned to the doorframe, the two teenagers expecting a horrible demon to come through and pull their eyes out. They were right about the horrible demon part.

Gracefully, as if he hadn't spent so much time in the hospital, Kurama's body, piloted by Youko, walked through the door. "Kurama?" Yusuke asked, pleasantly surprised at his friend's recovery. Unlike Hiei, he didn't notice the out of place coldness in the redhead's eyes.

"No," Kuwabara stared at the fox, noticing at once it wasn't the familiar soul inside, thanks to his spirit awareness. "I don't know who that is, but it's not Kurama."

Hiei hopped down from the windowsill. "Yusuke, Idiot, meet Youko."

Naturally, Kuwabara bristled at his new name, and started trying to beat up Hiei for it. Not sure what else to do, Yusuke walked over to the familiar body and put his hand out, "Uh, hi…?"

Youko glared at the hand as if it offended him. He, the legendary thief, was expected to shake that filthy thing? Ignoring it, he glanced into the lead detective's eyes. "And to think, Kurama speaks so highly of you."

Yusuke resisted shooting his famous spirit gun right then and there. After all, somewhere in there was his pal, and he wasn't going to kill them both off.

"So Hiei, you wanted us to meet what Kurama should be, great. You can take him back now," he said, looking back at Hiei, standing over Kuwabara's unmoving form.

"Do you think I can send him back with one of your "recites"?" Hiei asked, annoyed. "He's going to take Kurama's place in the band."

Kuwabara, dazed, sat up, still seeing little Hiei's shooting fireballs at him flying around his head. "What? Youko's crazy! He'll ruin everything!"

"We can't have an empty space," Hiei reasoned, hating thethought just as much. "Get used to the idea." With that, he was gone. Must have used his insane speed to jump out the window and run off.

Yusuke sighed, turning back to the matter at hand. "Ok, Youko. Some ground rules. I'm the leader here, so you LISTEN TO ME."

Youko raised a thin eyebrow. "You'd be more convincing if you wore… anything."

The detective's glare only heightened. Despite Youko's words, he WAS wearing boxers, but now he seriously wished he'd taken the time to fully change.

"And another thing," he went on, not commenting on Youko's last sentence, "you're in a human world. No killing, no stealing, you have to act like Kurama or someone'll notice."

"Of course, _leader_," Youko spat, turned, and left Yusuke's room. From beyond, they could hear the door slam as he left the house.

Once he was gone, Yusuke turned to the other still invading his privacy. "Ok ok, I'm going!" Kuwabara said, also leaving.

Yusuke yawned, crawling back into bed. Finally-

"YUSUKE!" Botan yelled, hovering outside his window.

"Doesn't ANYONE need any sleep around here!"

Youko walked the streets of modern Japan. Sure, he'd been to all these places before, in the back of his host body's mind, but it was a different experience actually going to them himself.

He noticed a playground nearby. Deciding he had nothing to lose, he walked over to watch the young kids play.

Eight or nine were playing armature football. Hearing him come their way, one hopeful boy looked up at him, giant blue eyes full of hope, "Mister, could you referee this game for us? We can't count past five."

How could someone say no to such a cute face?

"No." Looks like Youko figured it out.

"…TOO BAD FOR YOU!" The cute, yet very creepy kids piled on top of the frail looking boy, refusing to get off until he agreed. Youko toppled to the ground, buried by the weight. "Too many witnesses," he thought frantically, looking at the parents looking on, most laughing.

"FINE!" Youko yelled, and instantly they all tumbled off him, perfect angels again. If he left now, the kids would only jump on him again, making a never-ending cycle. Darn it. Looks like he'd have to actually referee….

"All right, who actually knows how to play football?" He asked, and groaned when no one raised their hand.

"No killing-" Yusuke had said.

"I'm trying, _leader_," Youko thought bitterly, starting to teach.

Kuwabara had managed to track down Rackly, hoping to subtly interrogate him on his uncle. They were sitting in a local ice cream resteraunt, eating sundaes.

"So I've got a sister. What's your family like?" So much for subtle.

Rackly glared at his frozen treat. "Everything was fine until a month ago when my mom got real sick and can't work. Since then, my uncle's trying to fix up our lives."

"What about your dad?"

"Divorced."

"I don't see what's so bad about family trying to support you," Kuwabara frowned, eating large chucks of his food at a time.

"My uncle just wants to get close to us so he can marry my mom," Rackly spat, completely ignoring the ice cream now. "Mom and Dad loved each other, he tore them apart so he could get her instead. I'm the only one who sees it too." Noticing Kuwabara's disgusted look, he quickly added. "Don't worry, he's related on my DAD'S side, no incest going on here."

Kuwabara allowed himself to breathe again, knowing that nothing nasty was going on. "So what's his name?" Rackly raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious. "I've seen him around before," Kuwabara hastily added, which wasn't exactly a lie.

"Leurc. Leurc Retticr."

END CHAPTER 23

FW: So now we know the name of the mastermind behind all this, and Yusuke's been humiliated by Youko. What more can you ask for in a chapter?

Yusuke: How 'bout a plot?

Youko: Less pointless parts.

Hiei: An end.

FW: ….Ok… So anyway, if you want to review, great! But don't if you don't want to. And I accept flames. In fact, I'll take it in stride! ….Now The Mega-Doomer-san, you said something about a cookie?


	24. To the Victor Goes the Spoiles

FW: 200+ reviews… wow! That's so cool! But on to business, I can't believe I'm writing this the weekend before finals when I SHOULD be studying, but I probably won't anyway, so….

Yusuke: C or better rule.

FW: Yeah, so?

Yusuke: If I have to pass, so do you!

FW: I'll pass all right! There's ALWAYS a way….

Youko: Like blackmail and threats!

FW: Uh, yeah…. GG-san, I came up with this during band practice while my "Mij" was screaming at me and wondering if Hiei would have lit him on fire yet…. Cheery, huh. LKLTB-sama, I have no idea what an "acronym" is… but some of the names of original characters DO have certain meanings behind them, and some are a twist of the people they were based on's own names! I think I'll reveal all the secrets in the last chapter. And Agent Dark Moose-sama, cool name, and TRUMPETS FOR LIFE! (FW is a trumpet player)

Hiei: Does she ever stop talking?

Botan: Maybe in her sleep….

FW: Jerks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

START 

Botan paced Yusuke's room, as she had been for the past three minutes or so, much to the room owner's annoyance. She held a notebook in her hand, and glanced at it occasionally, as if checking some data to make sure it hadn't changed on her.

"So, are you going to actually say something, or just rub my carpet away with friction?" He finally said.

"You know what friction is?" She stopped, looking at him in awe.

Barely keeping his temper in check, he demanded, "Just tell me what you're going to and get out!" Maybe he didn't control his anger so well….

"I was just checking some files around the town again, mostly on the band students," seeing Yusuke raise an eyebrow, she quickly explained, "I remembered taking a lot of souls to Spirit World four years ago here, and was just wondering if it's all a coincidence, when you look at Joane and Mia…." As usual, Yusuke could read the guilt in Botan's eyes just in saying her section leader's name.

"So what did you find out?" He asked, encouraging her to continue.

"Four years ago, almost to a number, every band freshman was in some way connected to something horrible."

"…So…?"

"Don't you get it? Yusuke, how many years are there in high school?"

"Four," the detective answered dutifully.

"And if you're a freshman now, what will you be in four years?"

"A senior," he said, still not piecing it together.

"And if this all happened FOUR years ago, when they were FRESHMEN, what would they be now?"

"Seniors- oh," it finally clicked. The seniors were dealt with before they became seniors by using traumatic events to work on their minds. It seemed to fit the pattern, with Kurama's mind block, and Mia's possession. "Why would anyone bother?"

"I don't know…" Botan murmured, obviously troubled. "But it can't be coincidence, like the police say. Maybe whoever did this was preparing for something… and didn't want competition…."

"Competition…" Yusuke repeated. "Hey, don't we have band practice in five minutes?"

Youko, sadly, didn't remember the practice, which would have given him an excuse to escape. "Little monsters, tackle EACH OTHER, not me!" He yelled, malice in his voice, but the kids, either too young or too stupid to recognize the danger only kept hitting him with sticks.

The kids had gotten frustrated with their lack of understanding football, and just decided to have an all-out war. Unfortunately, now that a referee wasn't needed, that must make him an opponent! Or at least, in the minds of a five year old. So naturally they took out the biggest first.

"That. Is. IT!" He finally had enough. Tossing the kids off him, as gently as he'd allow himself in his rage, he got up, brushed himself off, and started storming away.

"Young ma'am," an old woman sitting on a bench grabbed the MALE demon's arm, oblivious to his growing anger. "You have such a way with children… could you watch them for me again sometime?"

Youko felt his eyebrow twitching. "All of these… things, are YOURS?"

"Yes."

For a demon, that wouldn't be so bad, but for a human, especially for one so old… it just wasn't natural! "Tempting as that offer is, I'm afraid I don't have the time."

She missed his sarcasm, and said disappointedly, "That's too bad," she sighed, handing him a brochure, which he didn't really want, but took anyway. "You look like the artistic type, maybe you'll be interested."

The fox glanced down at the folder paper. It was an advertisement for the band competition he'd be performing in. How ironic.

Without another word, he started to leave, before inspiration struck him. Grinning as only Youko could, evilly, he walked back to the old lady. "I may not be able to watch your children, but I think I know someone who can…."

Kuwabara and Rackly, thanks to the latter's knowledge of band and what times practices started, made it there right on time.

While Rackly met with the other present section leaders, to discuss the still absent Mia, the remaining spirit detectives, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara got together.

They didn't have any time to talk though, as Mij was already calling them to attention. "Meeting at my house," Yusuke mouthed, knowing they would probably go there even without his permission. Some friends.

After practice, the all regrouped back at the leader's house, noting the non-present Youko. "I knew we couldn't trust him…." Yusuke muttered to no one in particular.

"Trust who?" Oh yeah, Botan still didn't know.

Kuwabara opened his mouth to break it to her, but just then, the redhead walked in, looking particularly pleased with himself.

They all decided it was best not to ask.

"Kurama! You're ok!" Botan chirped, hurrying over and flinging her arms around the boy's shoulders not noticing how he stiffened on contact.

Sure, he was used to female attention, "With a body like this, I needed to quickly," he thought, smirking, but he didn't exactly want it, unless he was getting something out of it.

He was about to make that perfectly clear when Hiei ripped her away from him. "Stop preying on weak beings," he glared, "I can't stand it. Especially when you need someone else's form to manage it."

Botan looked on, confused as the two demons seemingly had a staring contest. "She threw herself on me, and despite what you may think, I did NOT enjoy that, and had you been any slower," Hiei's glare strengthened at the word slow. NO ONE calls him slow. "I would have forced her off myself."

"What's going on?" The only girl asked the closet, Yusuke.

"Well, you've heard of Youko, right?"

"Yeah…."

"Well Kurama's still out of it, so Youko's taken over, and he's going to take Kurama's place in the band because we can't have any empty spots, and so far, all he's managed to do is screw everything up. That about sums it up, right Kuwabara?" The one asked nodded, and Yusuke fell silent, listening to the other two battle it out in words.

Finally, Yusuke spoke up again, "Uh, guys, we kind of have a meeting, and we have school tomorrow-"

"Wow, is Yusuke being responsible?" Botan gasped.

"Shut up. C or better. But anyway, I think it's time we pooled together all our info, see if we can get anything out of it."

Kuwabara started it off. "The other band director is Leurc Retticr, you know, the guy we're looking for? He's Rackly's uncle and in love with Rackly's mom."

Hiei kept his face perfectly emotionless, keeping Kuwabara from reading how Hiei reacted to his section leader's problem.

"Ooo, that explains it!" Botan piped up, which made her go next. "Most of the seniors were attacked while they were freshmen, indirectly or not. The only exception was Rackly, because he's family!"

Yusuke shrugged. "We still don't know why this "Leurc" bothered though. Just looks like a pathetic way to pass the time to me."

"Yusuke!" Botan yelled, "watch what you say! A lot of people DIED during that!"

"Wait, ALL seniors? What happened to Tsoy?" Kuwabara asked, curious to his own section leader.

"He was labeled crazy and sent to an asylum. Only one doctor ever saw him, telling everyone he was really dangerous. When the doctor died of heart problems and another one checked Tsoy, he was fine and released."

Kuwabara's heart went out to the less than straight senior. To be locked in an insane asylum… alone with a doctor literally out to get you…. (FW: Can you tell I hate doctors?) "How long was he stuck there?"

"Five months."

"And what about Flactem?" Youko asked, not really interested himself, but knowing Kurama would be whenever he snapped out of it.

"Everything before his freshman year, his name, family, life, he forgot. He must have wondered into this town, been adopted, and started with a clean slate."

"So he lost most of his life?" Youko thought it over. "Better him than me," he added, childishly.

Hiei glanced toward the offending demon. "He's the progress I've made."

"Not really what I'd call progress," Yusuke muttered.

"Did you say something, _leader_, because I don't see you having anything worth showing here," he growled.

"Well neither do you!"

Youko took a menacing step forward, the brochure falling out of his pocket, landing open toward the floor. Annoyed, he grabbed it in midair, hand fisting to crumble the paper. He was about to shove it back in his pocket when a little piece barely sticking out of his grip caught his eye.

It was shiny.

He didn't really know why, maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was a thief, but shiny things really got him going. Ignoring the confused and "what the heck is he doing" looks his teammates were giving him, he smoothed the paper to see exactly what it was that caught his eye.

And couldn't stop staring at something he thought he'd never see again.

It was a picture of the trophy awarded to the winners of the tournament. Grand and gold, a symmetric cup shape with two handles, one on either side. That wasn't the important part though. Engraved in the center of the bowl-like part, was a sparkling red gem.

If he remembered correctly, which he was sure he did, the jewel was the Eye of Tepurt, a treasure lost for centuries in the Makai. The user could use it to locate any living creature in all the worlds. That foolish humans should gain possession of it….

"What is it?" Yusuke asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing of importance," he answered, turning to leave, keeping that information to himself. He brushed Hiei's attempts to get into his mind aside easily, chiding the shorter demon for bothering to try. His mind was far too complicated to read.

Once alone, and when he was sure no one would pry into his private thoughts, he allowed himself to think clearly. "Leurc must have known the prize and what it can do, and decided to weaken the most important part of each section so far ahead of time, no one would suspect when the time actually came. Ingenious, really… but he didn't count on me being there," the fox thought, grinning in the darkness.

An hour later, everyone had filed out of Yusuke's house but its original occupant. His mom was out drinking somewhere again.

He heard the doorbell ring, and though he didn't really want to, felt he had to at least find out who it was.

Outside was an old lady, with about ten kids milling around her. "Yusuke Urameshi?" She asked.

"Yeah…" he answered, watching the little ones suspiciously, as if one might try and pull a gun on him.

"Great, I'll be back to pick them up at around 3 am. I hope $2 an hour is enough for you."

Before her words sunk in, and way before he thought to protest, she had left.

Left without all the kids.

END CHAPTER 24

FW: I know, I know. More of a boring chapter, but I've got to connect all this!

Yusuke: Leave kids with me? Heh, lucky if I don't kill them all.

FW: Hey, Youko survived. Well, gonna make this quick because it's kinda late right now…. So, if you want to review, nice, but don't bother if you don't want to. If you flame me, cool! I'll take it in stride!


	25. Finals and a Happy Reunion

FW: I know I said this before, but I really AM trying to wind it all down now!

Yu Yu characters: (sarcastic) Sure….

FW: I deserve that…. I'm asking for advice now too: my band needs more sousaphone players to go on a trip in a few years. I LOVE trumpets, but I can (sort of) play sousaphone. So, do I switch, and leave all my friends behind, or not, and maybe not go on the trip?

Hiei: You have two years to decide.

Yusuke: Yeah, why so freaked out NOW?

FW: I have to make up my mind in a few weeks. Not sure why, but that's what my teacher wants. And I'm not going to make him mad. When he gets mad, baaaad things happen….

Botan: We don't really want to know, do we?

FW: No. Anyway, schizo and proud-sama, HOLY CRAP! You're a genius! You're right about the "Cruel Critter" thing, I honestly didn't think anyone would figure that out…. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, wait until the last chapter! Or cheat and look at schizo and proud-sama's review…. AmnarRanma-sama, Youko didn't tell them because… he wants to steal the jewel! If they knew about it, they would keep their eye on it too, and Youko would have a harder time snatching it, right? I know a thing or two about stealing, not that I'm a thief….

Youko: It's nothing to be ashamed of.

FW: Yes it is! I'm a CHRISTIAN! Oh yeah, IT'S SUMMER!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, the Rooster song, Amazing Grace, the "hey hey hey, goodbye" song, or the "Guess Who's Back" song

START

"I'll kill him. I'll find a way to get him out of Kurama's body, maybe put him in a squirrel's body, and kill him. Then I'll get Koenma to bring him back to life, and I'll kill him again. And I'll just keep doing that until Koenma catches on. Then I'll take his body and-"

"Yusuke."

"Yeah?"

"You should really save your homicidal rampage for when we aren't standing next to everyone in the band."

Yusuke clamped him mouth shut with effort, cutting off his ranting of Youko and the kids he stuck on him, only managing because he realized Hiei was right. He had interrogated the old woman as to who had given his name, and told her he'd watch the psycho brats. She wasn't even fazed at what he called them, and described the young "lady". It hadn't taken long for Yusuke to piece it together.

Luckily for him, most of the other students hardly paid any attention to them, occupying themselves in other ways while waiting for the bus that would take them to finals. The only exception was Tac, who had for some reason made it her business to constantly try to steal Botan's tic-tacs.

"If you want them so bad you can have them!" Botan finally had enough and thrust the small box containing them into the trumpeter's hands.

Tac looked down at them confused. "I don't even like mint."

Before any of the detectives could point out that she was a complete idiot, the bus arrived.

"SO I GOT MYSELF A ROOSTER!"

"SO I GOT MYSELF A ROOSTER!"

Yusuke could feel his eye twitching. "Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

"AND I PUT IT ON A FENCE!"

"AND I PUT IT ON A FENCE!" Yusuke yelled back with everyone else on the bus, except Youko.

The ride went smoothly, for a bus, and this time the detectives didn't resist the ugly uniforms.

As a giant blob of blue and white, the Rekat marching band spilled from the bus, awaiting Mr. Nesul and individual section leaders guidance.

It was a perfect day for finals. Cloudy, so the sun wasn't beating down on them, but far from cold. They'd still be sweating like crazy by the day's end, but by now, they were used to that.

Mr. Nesul didn't keep them waiting long. Beside him were the remaining section leaders, Flactem, looking ridiculous as always, and a goofy smile that fit him perfectly at the minute; Rackly, who was amusing himself with his mouthpiece; Tsoy who was humming "Amazing Grace", which slightly disturbed Rackly, who was standing next to him; and Botan, who was biting her nails through the white gloves out of nervousness.

"As you all know, these are the finals," Mr. Nesul began, "you've all come a long way, and it's been an honor watching you. Just do your best, and even if we come in last, we'll still be winners." He finished his motivation speech to a round of applause.

"But if we win, I might show you what's under this uniform…" Flactem, hopefully, joked, running a hand across his enormous stomach.

"That's what I'm talking about!" No one had to ask who said that. It was obviously Tac, also, hopefully, joking.

Deciding it was better not to ask, Mr. Nesul called for a quick practice before the show.

The practice went well enough, but the percussion section still hadn't regained their confidence after blowing the last show. Without Mia, they were only a ghost of what they could be; what they once were.

Mr. Nesul and Mij, who had graced them with his presence for this show, noticed it as well, but decided not to press. The only one who could change it now was Mia herself.

The two adults gave the teenagers a five-minute rest, not wanting to overwork them beforehand.

Yusuke joined Kuwabara and Hiei, Youko was off doing his own thing, and Botan was talking to Flactem about some, er, section leaderish thing. The three friends, if you could call Hiei and Kuwabara friends, talked about nothing in particular, until they noticed Tac hurrying over to them worry evident in her eyes.

"Hiei! Rackly told me to tell you ASAP, your sousaphone case, it's empty!"

"What do you mean, "it's empty"?" Yusuke demanded.

"I mean it was on its side, open, and there was no sousaphone!" She yelled, exasperated. Probably one of the only times she was serious, and it was in such a dire moment that no one had time to notice.

"What do we dooooo…?" Kuwabara moaned, nervous now too. Actually, the only one who didn't show any distress was Hiei, whom this all affected directly.

Tac thought it over. She never got to suggest anything though, because another voice spoke before her.

"Degrading yourself with brass players again? Da#n, the percussion's really gone downhill without me."

Yusuke's head snapped in the direction of the new voice, one he remembered well, despite her long absence. "Mia!"

Sure enough, the missing percussion section leader had returned, standing next to the detective snare player, arriving completely without their noticing.

"Mia!" Tac exclaimed, running to fling her arms around the older girl. Mia sidestepped and watched the freshman run into a convinently placed tree.

"We've still got a score to settle," Mia said, referring to the war. "And WE'VE got a drill to fix, because YOU S#CK!" Mia yelled, dragging Yusuke away by the ear, ignoring his flailing arms.

Kuwabara just shrugged and started peeling the bark of a stick. Hiei rolled his eyes and went to talk to Rackly about his missing sousaphone.

Once Mia had finished fixing the percussionists, Mr. Nesul pulled her aside. "Mia, you weren't on any of the busses. How'd you get here?"

"I… found another way," she said mysteriously, going back to her section, wondering how that poor sousaphone she'd ripped out of its case was doing back at the school, and enjoying her freedom outside its stuffy case.

"Hiei," Rackly sighed, not sure what to tell him. "Either you sit this one out, or you conduct."

"Conduct?"

"Don't even tell me you've never heard of conducting!" Rackly almost yelled, glancing at his watch and seeing they had only 1 and a half minutes left. "You just wave your arms around and keep the beat!"

Hiei vaguely remembered Mr. Nesul doing that… "What's the point?"

"No time! JUST DO IT!" Rackly yelled, grabbing Kuwabara's now bark less stick and shoving it into Hiei's hand, before hurrying to tell Mr. Nesul what he'd just done. "Oh, and no pressure!" He managed to yell over his shoulder.

The show went well. Hiei had no idea what he was supposed to do, despite reading a few minds, but luckily, everyone know the songs so well by now, no one even bothered to look at him. With Mia leading them, the percussion felt more at ease, and gave the performance of their lives. As promised, Youko DID know what he was doing, and shined as bright as any other trumpet player.

Their performance finished much quicker than previous ones, maybe because they did so well and knew it. Or maybe because they were having fun.

Regardless, they found themselves with free time while other bands preformed. Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, and Youko all gathered at the end of the fence separating them from the performers and football field, watching the shows.

"This is really quite neat, isn't it?" Botan asked, watching with delight during a more difficult part of another school's show.

"Hn," Hiei answered. He glanced at the redhead demon beside him, having noticed the normally quick to insult Youko's silence. He seemed to be anticipating something… but as for what, Hiei couldn't pick out, unable to read the cunning fox's thoughts.

"And now, Oiretsym high school marching band!" The announcer called above cheering as a new band entered the field.

"So these are them," Yusuke muttered.

"Whose who?" Kuwabara asked.

"The school we're checking out moron!"

As expected, their number one rival kept its reputation strong, executing seemingly flawless yet difficult songs and drill.

"Well there's always next year, right?" Yusuke said, listening to the thunderous applause after they'd finished, and were now leaving the field.

"Will all the directors please make their way onto the field at this time?" The announcer requested, standing before a table of three trophies, a bronze, silver, and a gold. Youko's eyes narrowed. "Just a little longer…"

"In third place, DARTTYTH HIGH SCHOOL!" The instructor of that school proudly stepped forward and accepted the bronze trophy.

"In second place, OIRETSYM HIGH SCHOOL!"

"No way!" Kuwabara yelled, thrilled as Leurc Retticr walked to the table and snatched the silver trophy, seemingly disgusted. "We won!"

The Rekat students held the same logic as Kuwabara, and all cheered, "Na na na na, na na na na, HEY HEY HEY, GOODBYE!"

"And in first place… REKAT HIGH SCHOOL!" Mr. Nesul beamed as he stepped forward, taking the trophy. He looked over in the direction of his students, and held the trophy over his head, for all to see to wild applause.

The sore loser, Leurc, wasn't ready to give up so easily, however. He smashed the Rekat band teacher over the head with his conducting baton, and when Mr. Nesul fellin pain, the cruel man ripped the gold trophy out of his hands.

"And this is our cue!" Yusuke yelled to his teammates, jumping the fence, followed by Kuwabara, Hiei, Youko, Botan, and the whole Rekat band.

Not sure what was going on, but sensing their instructor's danger, the Oiretsym students hurried onto the field as well, quickly engaging the other school in combat.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Youko, and Hiei quickly teamed up to take on Leurc, but as they expected, he wasn't going down easily. He wasn't demon, but far from being a human anymore. Unlike the detectives, his energy was transparent, which meant he could use it without fear of being discovered, while the detectives were only able to use mortal attacks. The trophy was tossed aside so he could fight better, landing close to Mr. Nesul, still on the ground.

A strong burst of energy sent Kuwabara flying into the fence. Dazed, he glanced up, and absentmindedly watched Tsoy defeat an opponent. "Tsoy…" he thought, "nut house?" His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, an idea coming to him.

"Smart one! The guy were beating up is OVER HERE!" Yusuke yelled uselessly to his friend's retreating back.

"Let him run. We'll do better without him," Hiei said, charging at the teacher again.

Again, he managed to parry all the fire demon's attacks, and knock him down with a painful energy ball.

Yusuke and Youko met similar fates.

The three heaved on the ground, trying to catch their breath and attack once more, but they knew they were running out of hope. The Oiretsym students had already surrendered, but the detectives didn't know if they could defeat their newest opponent.

"Urameshi! Move!" Kuwabara yelled. Yusuke forced his head to look back and could see the entire band facing Leurc, looking pretty ticked.

Tac and Mia stood side by side. They looked at each other, and nodded.

"CHARGE!" They both screamed at the same time, and their respective halves, brass and percussion, did just that. Yusuke had managed to get out of the way of the gladiator like band members, and now they seemingly swallowed up Leurc, the numbers being too high for him to fight.

Yusuke watched on, too exhausted to really do anything else. Youko forced himself to his feet, moving to Mr. Nesul, and the now slightly dented trophy lying beside him.

Youko knelt beside Mr. Nesul, and placed his fingers gently on the human's throat, searching for a pulse. Discretely with his other hand, he felt for the Eye of Tepurt, and couldn't help but grin in satisfaction when his fingers fell over it. Gently, he began to pry it out of its engraving before a smaller hand quickly went on top of his own, stopping his removal.

Youko looked up, confused at the unblinking, unforgiving eyes of Hiei. "So he recognized it too…" Youko thought bitterly as Hiei ripped the fox's hand away from the trophy.

In the meantime, Leurc had been knocked unconscious, and the next priority was Mr. Nesul, who was still out cold himself.

Tac and Mia were still walking next to each other, and though the air between them was hardly what you'd call friendly, it was no longer hostile. Together, they lifted the trophy again, signaling the official end of the band war.

Keiko tapped her pencil, sitting at her desk in her room. She was supposed to be studying, but couldn't bring herself to concentrate.

For months, Yusuke and Kuwabara hadn't been in school, yet their grades had climbed from F's to C's. She didn't understand how that could be possible, unless they were doing all their work at home, or even another school, which was more than a little unlikely.

She sighed. "Come on, study," she tried to encouraged herself. "Don't worry about Yusuke and Kuwabara."

Her pencil started writing, as if it had a mind of its own. "Whatever they're doing right now, it's probably nothing."

END CHAPTER 25

Mia: (singing in the background) Guess who's back... back again... Mia's back... tell a friend THAT YOU DON'T HAVE!

FW: ...Psycho... So, there, happy ending right? Nope! It's not over yet!

Yusuke: (whining) Why not?

FW: I have some loose ends to tie up, and some aftermaths. You DO want to see why Youko was so interested in that jewel, right? And what happens to Kurama? And Joane?

Hiei: Not really.

FW: Well you're going to.

Sola: (eating chips in the background) You're actually going to finish this thing?

FW: Well, yeah. Dissapointed?

Sola : HECK NO! I'm just going to miss annoying you at the end like this.

FW: (sarcastic) Well don't I feel loved?

Sola: You shouldn't.

FW: So review if you want, don't if you don't. Flaming is perfectly fine. I'll take it in stride!


	26. Aftermath, It Never Really Ends

FW: This is the last chapter. For real.

Some readers: (disappointed)

FW: Well we all knew it couldn't last. It's been fun though!

Hiei: For you.

FW: Yeah! Final shout outs: AmnarRanma-sama, our bands have a lot in common don't they? Psycho people in uniforms! GuardRifleGirl-sama, have fun with all your "camps"! I've got pre-band camp, band-camp, and I SHOULD go to dm camp… but I don't think I will….

Botan: Please go.

FW: Why?

Youko: So we have another whole week away from you.

FW: Always nice to know I'm loved…. schizo and proud-sama, thanks for the advice! I think I WILL stay with the trumpets, unless my instructor specifically asks me to switch. But I'm just a lowly freshman, so I don't think I have to worry about that.

Sola: That's it? This IS the last chapter. You should shout out to everyone.

FW: But that would take away the specialness only giving a few gives!

Sola: So?

FW: Whatever. Now, without further ado, the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or wrestling

START

The band piled back onto the bus, Mij supporting Mr. Nesul, had had regained consciousness, but was still dizzy. This time, Mia took a bus.

True to his word, once his bus was filled, Flactem started stripping, much to Tac's amusement.

"MY EYES!" Many of the other, more normal students yelled, covering them from the horrific sight.

Botan, blushing furiously, turned away, finding the back of the seat in front of her very interesting.

Hiei and Youko just rolled their eyes, looking away.

Kuwabara and Yusuke stared at the trumpet section leader, swinging his white shirt around his head, and Yusuke couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Then the bus driver climbed on board, "Oh my God! What are you doing?"

Once the senior had calmed down, Yusuke turned to the orange haired boy sitting next to him. "How'd you rally up everyone?" He asked, remembering the whole band charging Leurc.

Kuwabara looked out the window solemnly. "I just told them that he was responsible for everything that happened four years ago. The seniors figured it out, and everyone else just did it for them," he answered.

Yusuke nodded, deciding it was better not to push it.

Mr. Nesul was silent as well; weather from his concussion or from reflecting, no one could really tell.

His cell phone rang, and he just stared at it, proving the former. Mij, glaring for some unknown reason, turned it on for him and held it to the other adult's ear.

Whatever the other person had to say obviously affected the middle-aged man a lot. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened, before grinning broadly. He signaled for the bus to stop, and once it was safe to stand, did so.

"What's going on?" Botan asked, trying to brush her hair back into its normal status. Stupid band hats really mess up your hair.

"That was the hospital. Joane Resserd has just come out of his coma."

Once the bus arrived, the news of Joane's recovery had died down about to all but the detectives, flutists, and Mia.

The flutists immediately started for the hospital, but Kuwabara called them to a halt. "Just wait until tomorrow," he asked sternly, and the woodwinds felt obligated to obey, for some reason.

Kuwabara watched Mia walk silently by him, nodding once in gratitude. "Good luck," he thought.

Like the band teacher had said, Joane was awake, though still obviously weak and unable to sit up.

Mia walked over to him, for once not sure what to say. "Uh, hi," she started.

"Hi."

"We won!" She grinned, giving the victory sign. Had he been someone else, Joane might have mistaken it for the identical peace sign, but the insanely violent Mia would NEVER praise peace.

"That's nice," he said, slightly out of it. His memory was muddled, but he could clearly remember Botan stab him, and that she was the one who killed his parents. How could he have been stupid enough to fall in love with his family's murderer? In fact, why did he feel no differently about her? What a sadistic freak he must be.

"Penny for your thoughts? No, scratch that! It's MY money!" She yelled, somewhat crazily. "Uh, what are you thinking though?"

"That Botan's a backstabbing, literally, lying, murdering, self centered, bi#ch."

Mia sighed. She knew she'd have to tell him. That's why she'd come after all. "She didn't kill your parents, and she didn't stab you. I did."

At the shock in his eyes, Mia hurriedly continued, hoping he'd understand. "But I didn't WANT to! I think I was possessed, or something. I only really remembered after you went into a coma, when I tried to kill Kuwabara. Darn it, that's not what I meant! I didn't try to kill him, well I sort of did, but it wasn't me! And then-"

Joane held up his hand, telling her to speak to it, or shut up. "I get it," he said, softly because of his injury, or the pain at hearing those words, who knew. "I get it."

"So… are you mad at me?"

"Of course I'm mad at you!" The until now quiet teenager exploded, waving his arms despite the IV. "But you didn't mean it, so I guess it's not ALL your fault."

"So… are you going to tell the cops?"

"Four years of living with murder? I think you've had a bad enough punishment," he said, grinning slightly. Mia returned the smile, and left to let him rest.

Joane looked at his bedside table, now noticing a single get-well card. He took it, and slowly read it through, smiling even more as he did so. It was unsigned, but he didn't need a name to know who made it.

"My love, how unfair to blame you," he said dramatically. "I'll pursue you greater than before as a show of my affection!"

He picked up the phone, also on the table and dialed a number he'd memorized, Botan's cell phone number. Mia WAS good for a lot of things. Like her uncanny ability to get all kinds of personal info from just about anyone, for a price, of course. Exactly HOW she got it, no one cared to ask.

"Hello?" Botan's beautiful voice filled Joane's ear. He'd missed that while he was asleep.

"You're hot…."

It was past nine when Rackly made his way into his small house. He went straight to the kitchen, preparing the instant ramen he'd become accustomed to eating every day since his mom grew sick, and money got tight.

He hadn't noticed the unfamiliar car in the driveway.

"Rackly, is that you honey?" He could hear his mom asking from the dining room table, apparently impatient for the meal.

"No, it's the computer hacker, come to steal our phone again," he called back sarcastically.

"Come here, just for a minute…?"

Sighing and putting the ramen down, he walked the few feet to the next room. Sitting at the table, as expected, was his mom, wearing her fuzzy pink bathrobe, still sick. Across from her, was his dad, sitting in the chair he always used to. In the center of the table was a pizza box, still untouched.

"I thought you two might like a change," Rackly's dad said, smiling warmly at his son, and ex-wife.

Rackly stared for a moment longer before his father's infectious happy spirit flooded into him. Smiling, he sat between them, in the chair he used to always take.

So maybe money was still a question, his mom was still sick, and his parents were still divorced, but for right now, just sitting between them, talking as a family again, this was good enough.

Flactem drove silently down a familiar road, one he hadn't traveled in four years. He hadn't remembered it until just after the band finals, as if something had been suppressing his memories, but it was defeated.

The senior shook his head slightly. Now wasn't the time to think about the present. Only the future, and past.

He drove up a pathway that he hadn't seen in ages, yet knew as well as the back of his hand. Knocking on the door, he waited, before realizing no one would answer. The car was in the driveway, so he knew someone was home.

Deciding to take a chance, he found the spare key he knew to be under the doormat, and confidently fit it into the doorknob.

Taking a deep breath, he entered.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home."

As for the detectives themselves….

"So you've figured it all out?" Koenma asked, impressed.

"Yes," Botan answered. "It isn't a documented energy, because it's a combination. He, Leurc Rettirc has the power to enter others' minds, to rearrange them, or even control them. His energy mixes with all his victims, which gave him a unique energy signal."

Koenma nodded, understanding.

"And yeah, he's dangerous," Yusuke finished.

"I've brought him to Reikai prison, if you'd like to interrogate him further," Botan added.

"Good work," Koenma said, pleased. Once all his detectives left, he leaned back in his chair.

"I really didn't think they'd pull it off."

The next night was senior night, named in honor of said grade, who had worked so hard, in school, band, and their own lives. The ones who would be graduating in a few short months. Aside from remembering the oldest members, it was also the last time the full band would be together. This time, it wasn't for practice, a show, or meeting, it was to PARTY!

Everyone in the band made it, even Joane, though he needed to sit and rest often, energy being spent easily. Botan stayed with him, to his delight.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were playing soccer, on opposing sides, with some of the other members. As of right now, the score was Yusuke's team: 5, Kuwabara's team: 3.

For once, Hiei didn't need to be convinced to come, but came of his own accord. He was standing in a tree, occasionally knocking pinecones down on someone who tried to talk to him, but his just being there was progress.

Youko sat alone on a fallen log, deep in thought. The happy mood was only disturbed when someone came too close to him, his aura so depressing it affected almost anyone around him.

"You're not allowed to use your hand!" Hiei listened to Kuwabara yell, not paying any attention to him.

"Rules are made to be broken!" Yusuke yelled back, and the two teams got into an argument over weather cheating was fair.

Youko was so lost in his own head, he didn't even notice the fire demon sitting next to him until he felt an uncharacteristically gentle hand on his shoulder. The fox looked over at him, and Hiei just stared blankly back.

"You wanted to use the Eye of Eye of Tepurt," Hiei stated more than asked.

Youko nodded, too upset to be defensive. Besides, if the truth was out, why bother to hide it? "For Kuronue."

Hiei frowned. He remembered Kurama telling him about his demon partner during the Dark Tournament. He'd had a nightmare, or something. Regardless, he remembered one fact clearly. "He's dead."

Youko shook his head. "Perhaps," he said absently. "I've felt his energy, 3 months ago, he could have survived. I did." At Hiei's respectful silence, he continued. "If he's alive, if there's any possibility, how could I not search for him? I need to know, I need to find him."

Hiei let Youko finish in peace. So his old partner could still be alive, and Youko wanted to use the jewel to know for sure. If he did live, the clever fox could have used it to find him, to free him.

The two greatest thieves reunited. That was a time the world couldn't afford to relive.

Still, looking at the creature before him, how could he tell him this was best? For him to never even know the truth, to always wonder…?

Hiei stood, placing a hand on the other demon's shoulder. "You can always look," he said, the jagan glowing slightly, before leaving the troubled fox with his thoughts.

Youko sighed. "I'm truly not capable of being in control for long amounts of time anymore, am I?" He wondered. "I'm so out of practice, I've forgotten how to handle these pressures alone. I guess that weak human side is useful after all."

He retreated back into his mind, where the still pained Kurama struggled with his memories.

_"Get out of my way,"_ he said harshly, shoving the redhead aside, taking the brunt of his past. This was the way it should be, after all it was HIS life. It was only bad luck that Kurama's mind got the blast instead. He'd lived it before, and he would again. It simply didn't affect his hardened soul as much.

Kurama wasn't sure what was happening, but felt a tremendous weight lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you," he muttered, before taking control of his own body, knowing that Youko would manage on his own. He always did.

Kuwabara and Yusuke hadn't managed to resolve their problem, and just gave up soccer all together

"Hey Kuwabara, what's that?" Yusuke asked innocently, pointing behind the other detective, careful not to put his hand in any of the foods on the refreshment table as he leaned on it.

"Come on Yusuke, who falls for that trick anymore?" Botan asked, walking with Joane up to the table. He was leaning on her shoulder, but she was fairly sure he didn't really need to.

"What?" Kuwabara fell for it.

In the split second he looked away, Yusuke dumped his paper cup of fruit punch on the taller boy's head.

"URAMESHI!"  
"What? No one'll notice. It even matches your hair!" Yusuke laughed, jumping out of the way of his friend's wild punches.

"What about my white shirt?"

"They'll just think I beat you up again."

"Like you could EVER beat me up!"

Botan sighed, shaking her head. "They never quit, do they?" A soft voice asked from her unoccupied side.

Botan looked over and was relieved to see Kurama, the real Kurama, smiling back at her. His eyes just didn't look natural without their kind shine.

Flactem and Tac were making their way toward the hot dogs, Tac bouncing next to him anxiously, and Flactem looking like he wanted nothing more than to find a giant stopper to put in the freshman's mouth.

"Come on, Flactem! You have to name a section leader tonight, and I'd be perfect!" She said, trying vainly to convince him.

"You're a freshman," he reasoned.

"So's Botan!"

"She had talent."

Botan giggled, and Joane looked down at her. "YOU were section leader?"

"Oh, right," she said, coming back to Earth quickly. "I forgot you didn't know. While you were gone, we needed a replacement, so I got the job," she quickly filled him in.

"I really did teach you well!" Sweatdropping, she let it go, just this once.

As the time slipped by and the party was coming to a close, the section leaders, Joane instead of Botan, all gathered up front and announced next year's section leaders with pride. Tac wasn't chosen, much to her disappointment.

"In a few years," Flactem encouraged her, seeing her fallen face.

"YEAH RIGHT!" Mia yelled over, having somehow overheard. Flactem and Tac sweatdropped.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Botan are all going to be transferring to different schools tomorrow," Mr. Nesul announced shortly after, to groans from his listeners.

For the 20 minutes or so that remained, nearly everyone tried to convince them to stay.

"I don't even KNOW half these people!" Yusuke cried in frustration as he explained to yet another person that he wasn't changing his mind.

"Do you want me to eliminate those you don't?" Hiei asked, annoyed at his own fair share of members asking why they were abandoning them. "Because I hate you," had been his answer to almost all, the only exceptions being sousaphone players. He'd developed respect for them over the time he'd known them.

"Naw, that's ok. We'll never see them again soon enough anyway."

"Planning something of your own, Detective?"  
"Uh, no. I think you read that wrong…" as Yusuke explained, Tsoy found Kuwabara, trying to wipe the stains out of his shirt.

"You're really leaving?" He asked.

"Yup," Kuwabara answered, not bothering to look up.

"I won't try to stop you then. Just thanks," Tsoy said, smiling at his section member.

"For what?"

"Any, and everything."

The other section leaders each had their own sentimental moments with their peers/students. Flactem grasped Kurama on the shoulder, with promises to keep in touch. Hiei had allowed Rackly the honor of shaking his almighty hand, Yusuke and Mia had a final yelling match, and, against her will, Joane had kissed Botan.

The five walked down the street they'd become accustomed to taking that would branch off into their own house streets.

They walked in silence, until Botan's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"You hot…."

Annoyed, she hung up. "I'm changing my number."

"Why do you even keep that anyway? What happened to those dorky mirrors?" Kuwabara asked.  
"They were NOT dorky!" Botan said, defensive. "And because Mr. Cool wouldn't carry one, I had to find another way to reach him if an emergency comes up!"

"Well so-rry." Yusuke said sarcastically.

"I know where you live!" She yelled back.

Kurama glanced at Hiei, "I'm glad those two are on our side."

Hiei grinned. So Kurama was back….

The group fell into silence again. Finally, Botan broke it, gazing up at the stars saying, "It's really over, isn't it."

Yusuke thought over her words for a moment. All the memories came flooding back, from first getting the mission and yelling at Koenma, to being tutored in that classroom, to defeating their school's rival in the finals. He remembered the people he would for the rest of his life. Strong, yet fun Flactem. Sensitive and caring Tsoy. Sarcastic but smart Rackly, violent and explosive Mia, disturbing, yet decent Joane, their amazing teacher Mr. Nesul, heck, even that annoying kid Tac.

"No," Yusuke finally said, also looking at the stars, but not seeing them, "it's never really over."

END

FW: So that's it. I know Yusuke's not that sentimental, but I wanted to throw something all dramatic in the end. Hiei and Youko were pretty out of character too, but I like Kuronue!

Yusuke: (washing his mouth out with soap)

FW: (rolls eyes) So, here's the name secrets I said I'd give:

Rekat- backwards, it spells "Taker". I'm a HUGE wresting fan, and the Undertaker's my favorite. He's called "Taker" for short.

Oiretsym- backwards, it's "Mysterio". Once again, I love wrestling, and this one's for Rey Mysterio. 

Resserd- that's Joane's last name. And backwards, it's "Dresser", because he's sort of a cross-dresser. Little foreshadowing there!

Leurc Retticr- "Cruel Critter" backwards, if you switch the "c" and "r" on critter. I call all my friends "evil critters", but since evil backward is live, I figured I'd have to change it a little.

The Eye of Tepurt- Teprut backwords is "Trumpet", if you add an "m". I'm a trumpet player, so yeah.

Darttyth- that was one of the other high schools, it's named after Dartmouth, which is a school that's in a forever feud with my band. I gave them a cameo because I can't stand them.

Sola: That makes no sense.

FW: So what. Anyway, I think that's all. Flactem, Mr. Nesul, Nats, Tac, and Mij were all based and named after their respective real-life people, though theirnames havebeen changed a little to protect the (semi)-innocent. Mia was based off someone, but not named after her. Tsoy was named after one person, but based off another.

Sola: Boo-oring…

FW: Then stop reading. So for one last time: review if you want to, but no one's forcing you to. If you flame, great! I'll take it in stride!


End file.
